A Couple Breaks Up. Who Gets Custody of Their Embryos?

About this episode

<p>As more people in the United States use I.V.F. to have children, embryos are being stored in fertility clinics across the country. It raises the question: What should happen to those embryos if a couple breaks up?</p><p>Caroline Kitchener, who covers families for The New York Times, tells the story of Erin Millender, who took a custody battle over frozen embryos to court after her husband revoked his consent to use them.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/caroline-kitchener" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Caroline Kitchener</strong></a>, a New York Times reporter, writing about the American family.</p><p>Background reading:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>They started I.V.F., and then split. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/us/ivf-embryos-custody.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Now who gets custody of the embryos</a>?</li></ul><p>Photo: Kim Raff for The New York Times</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>