Twins’ Parents Unlikely to OK Genetic Testing

In the latest fallout from the UC Irvine fertility clinic scandal, an attorney for the birth parents of 6-year-old twins said the couple is unlikely to submit their children to genetic testing requested by a former patient of Dr. Ricardo H. Asch.

The former patient, Loretta Jorge of Corona, believes that the children were conceived with her eggs.

But attorney Ron Stock, who was retained by the birth parents Monday, said that he has seen no documents substantiating her claim.

“The basic understanding of the parents is they went to the University of California, Irvine, fertility clinic for assistance in having their own” children, he said. “It was their understanding, and still is, that this is [what happened], both by childbirth and genetics.”

Stock, who declined to reveal the names of his clients, said that “they’re, naturally, very upset” about the allegation.

On Feb. 16, attorney Jane A. Gorman, who represents Jorge, sent a letter to the twins’ birth parents asking them to submit the children to genetic testing. The letter also asked the couple to meet with Jorge and her husband, Basilio, to discuss appropriate visitation with the children, a boy and a girl.

Records indicate that some of Loretta Jorge’s eggs were given to the birth parents without her consent, the Jorges allege. And Basilio Jorge believes he may be the biological father of the twins.

If the couple’s response is not appropriate, the Jorges have said, they will pursue litigation, seeking to have Loretta Jorge declared the legal mother. Gorman could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Stock said he sent a letter in reply saying that the couple are “open to further communications . . . but we aren’t agreeing to any of their requests.”

“I suspect they’ll end up having to pursue whatever legal remedies they think they have,” he said. “We’re not going to agree to any kind of visitation, and I don’t think we’ll agree to any blood testing.”

Jorge’s former doctor, Asch, is accused, along with his two former partners, of stealing eggs and embryos from scores of women and giving them to other patients or using them in research. Asch and his former colleagues are now the subjects of several investigations and lawsuits regarding the alleged misappropriation.