The False Promise Sold To Vulnerable Families

For one in six people worldwide who experience infertility, the journey to build a family is often a brutal gauntlet of physical, emotional, and financial strain. In the United States, a growing number of them turn to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), a complex and expensive process that offers a chance at parenthood. It’s a market built on hope, and a class-action lawsuit filed in the District of Delaware alleges that corporations like Ovation Fertility and its parent company, US Fertility LLC, are exploiting that hope for profit.

These companies market an add-on procedure called Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A). For thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, families are told this test can screen their precious, hard-won embryos for chromosomal abnormalities. The marketing promises are powerful: a higher chance of a healthy pregnancy, a reduced risk of miscarriage, and an accuracy rate of over 98%. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of families across the country, calls these promises false.

The Non-Financial Ledger: Discarding Irreplaceable Hope

An embryo created through IVF is not a simple commodity. It is the culmination of painful hormone injections, invasive medical procedures, and immense financial sacrifice. For many, each embryo represents a finite, irreplaceable chance at having a child. The lawsuit alleges that Ovation’s PGT-A test, with its unproven and unreliable results, leads families to make an unthinkable choice: discard embryos that may have been perfectly healthy.

When a test result comes back “abnormal,” the standard medical advice is to destroy the embryo. The emotional and psychological toll of this decision, based on what plaintiffs claim is faulty data, is immeasurable. It can force people to undergo additional, grueling rounds of IVF, further depleting their finances and their emotional reserves. The lawsuit documents that PGT-A testing can and does result in the unnecessary loss of embryos and can lead to healthy babies being born from embryos that were previously deemed “abnormal” and “unsuitable for transfer.” This is a loss that can never be recovered.

Legal Receipts: What The Lawsuit Uncovered

The legal filing against Ovation and US Fertility is built on a foundation of evidence from scientific studies and the policies of major healthcare institutions. The corporations’ marketing claims are directly contradicted by independent analysis. Insurance companies, whose business is risk assessment, have refused to cover PGT-A, citing a lack of proof that it works.

United Healthcare, America’s largest health insurer, has determined PGT-A is “unproven and not medically necessary due to ‘insufficient evidence of efficacy.'”

Aetna, another industry giant, classifies PGT-A testing as “experimental, investigational, or unproven.”

The core of the lawsuit’s argument is that the companies knew the science was weak and sold the test anyway.

“Defendants’ misleading statements and omissions as described in detail below are false and misleading to any reasonable consumer because its PGT-A is unproven, unvalidated, inaccurate, and unreliable.“

The Corporate Web: Private Equity and The Profit Motive

This is not a story of a single lab. It’s a story of modern capitalism. US Fertility LLC was formed in 2020 through an investment by private equity firm Amulet Capital Partners. Its stated goal is to “increase profitability.” In March 2023, it acquired Ovation Fertility, creating what they call a “combined company” and an “IVF services powerhouse.”

The lawsuit alleges that US Fertility and Ovation operate as “alter egos,” a legal term for entities that are technically separate but act as one. The evidence is in their leadership structure. The same individuals serve as top executives for both companies simultaneously, managing them as a single “combined platform.” This isn’t just a partnership; it’s a vertically integrated operation designed to maximize revenue from a captive and desperate market.

• Chief Executive Officer: Richard Jennings holds this title for both US Fertility and Ovation Fertility.
• General Counsel: Judah Shechter serves as the top lawyer for both entities.
• Chief Operating Officer: Jaime Shamonki, M.D. serves as COO for both.
• Chief Financial Officer: Joshua Saipe manages the finances for both.
• Chief Information Officer: Ethan Harris oversees technology for both.
• Chief Development Officer: Danny Charles handles mergers and acquisitions for both.

This structure allows a private equity-backed firm to control everything from the management of fertility clinics to the upselling of lucrative, scientifically questionable genetic tests, all under the guise of separate brands.

What Now? A Watchlist For Corporate Accountability

This legal battle exposes a system where patient vulnerability is a business opportunity. Holding these entities accountable requires sustained public pressure and scrutiny. Here is who to watch and what to demand.

Corporate Roles to Watch

• The Chief Executive Officer, US Fertility & Ovation Fertility
• The Chief Financial Officer, US fertility & Ovation Fertility
• The General Counsel, US Fertility & Ovation Fertility
• The Chief Operating Officer, US Fertility & Ovation Fertility

The Corporate Structure

• The Parent Company: US Fertility, LLC
• The Private Equity Backer: Amulet Capital Partners, LP

The Resistance

Change will come from the ground up. Support the plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits like this one, who are taking on immense personal risk to expose corporate misconduct. Demand transparency from fertility clinics about the true, unbiased scientific consensus on PGT-A, not just the marketing materials provided by the companies selling the tests. Finally, build mutual aid networks and share information with others navigating the fertility industry. Collective knowledge is the best defense against corporate exploitation.