Sofia Vergara sued by her own embryos: Legal battle with ex takes bizarre turn

THE legal battle between Modern Family star Sofia Vergara and her ex Nick Loeb over the right to use her frozen embryos just took an extraordinary turn.

THE battle over Sofia Vergara’s embryos took an extraordinary turn Tuesday — when a right-to-live lawsuit was filed on behalf of the fertilised eggs against their mum.

The female embryos are listed as plaintiffs “Emma’’ and “Isabella” in the Louisiana court papers, which come amid her knockdown, drag-out legal battle with former fiance Nick Loeb, sources toldThe New York Post .

Loeb had already sued the Modern Family star in California for custody of the embryos, which the couple created when they were still together in 2013.

The potentially landmark new case in Louisiana — a traditionally pro-life state that offers special legal protections for frozen embryos — also lists the embryos’ “trustee’,’ James Carbonnet, as a plaintiff, sources said.

Vergara with former fiance Nick Loeb at the 2014 Golden Globes. Picture: Jason Merritt/Getty

The new lawsuit contends that Emma and Isabella, by not being born, have been deprived of an inheritance from a trust that has been created for them, according to sources.

It asks that the frozen embryos be given to Loeb so that they can live and receive the trust set up for them, which would fund, among other things, their healthcare and education, sources said.

The lawsuit also contends that a contract Vergara and Loeb previously signed at the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills should be voided since it violated California code and Louisiana law, according to sources.

The contract said neither party could use the embryos without the consent of the other. But the lawsuit argues that it didn’t say what should happen if Loeb and Vergara were to split.

Loeb, a 41-year-old businessman, spends his time between New York and Florida but has ties to Louisiana.

Sofia Vergara and hubby Joe Manginello on their wedding day. Picture: Instagram

He graduated from Tulane University and still serves as a reserve police officer in the state, according to sources.

The then-happy couple first turned to in-vitro fertilisation to have a child of their own in 2013.

The filing says that on March 4, 2013, Loeb and Vergara exchanged messages about the embryos after finding out they’d created five, sources said.

“You can’t keep 4 frozen lives forever or kill them, we will go to hell,” Loeb wrote to her, sources said.

“We r going to hell regardless,” Vergara responded, according to sources.

During the same conversation, the actress told him, “I’m doing it because I want you to have a baby,” sources said, citing the lawsuit.

Loeb has courted the media to speak out about his famous ex.

But two rounds of IVF failed, and Loeb and Vergara eventually split on May 13, 2014, while at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, sources said.

After they broke up, Loeb sent texts to Vergara including one that said, “We still have those 2 frozen babys,’’ sources said.

The new court papers insist that Vergara was adamant during her relationship with Loeb that, as a Catholic, she believed the embryos should never be destroyed — and she’s since broken their oral agreement, sources said.

Loeb filed to protect the embryos in California just a few months after they split.

But the court documents say he dropped that lawsuit Tuesday, after a California judge ruled in favour of Vergara, 44, in her quest to force Loeb to identify two previous lovers who underwent abortions after he impregnated them.

He had appealed the decision but was turned down by an appellate court.

Loeb previously told Page Six, “I would rather go to jail than reveal the names’’ and have them face a legal quizzing from Vergara’s team.

Vergara wants the embryos ‘frozen indefinitely’. Picture: Getty

The new lawsuit says Loeb should have full custody over the embryos so they can be implanted in a surrogate, sources said. Vergara’s parental rights should also be terminated, sources said.

It also insists that the actress should pay for any of the fees Loeb has incurred while Emma and Isabella have remained frozen, sources said.

Vergara — who last year married Magic Mike actor Joe Manganiello, 39 — has previously said children should be the product of a loving relationship. She has a son from another relationship.

Her lawyer, Fred Silberberg, has said the actress wants to keep the embryos “frozen indefinitely.”

“A child needs a mother and a loving relationship with parents that get along, that don’t hate each other ... Kids need parents,” Vergara has explained.

“I wouldn’t want to bring kids to the world where it is already set everything wrong for them. It would be so selfish.

“I’ve been working very hard for 20 years to get to this point where I am. I don’t want to allow this person to take more advantage of my career and try to promote himself,” she added in a May 2015 interview.

The actress has said the contract that both she and Loeb signed should be the end of the story.

“There’s nothing to talk about. You know, there’s papers signed,” Vergara said.

Vergara with Eric Stonestreet in the smash sitcom Modern Family.

In an April 2015 op-ed in the New York Times, Loeb outlined why he wants to protect the embryos — and potentially implant them in a surrogate.

“A woman is entitled to bring a pregnancy to term even if the man objects,” Loeb wrote.

“Shouldn’t a man who is willing to take on all parental responsibilities be similarly entitled to bring his embryos to term even if the woman objects?”

He says he had asked Vergara to let him have the embryos, offered to pay all the expenses and raise the two girls himself.

She would have no parental responsibility and would be declared an egg donor, but the actress refused, he said.

He added her lawyer Fred Silberberg had told reporters she wants to keep the embryos “frozen indefinitely,” but Loeb said that’s not good enough.

“In my view, keeping them frozen forever is tantamount to killing them,” he insisted.

Vergara’s rep couldn’t immediately be reached. Loeb didn’t respond to a request for comment.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Sofia Vergara sued by her own embryos: Legal battle with ex takes bizarre turn