Iran’s judiciary is investigating claims that frozen embryos were lost or misidentified at a state-affiliated hospital in Tehran, in a case that has deepened concerns about trust and oversight in the country’s fertility services.
Sajjad Razavi, deputy health minister for treatment affairs, confirmed Sunday that the case will soon be submitted to the prosecutor’s office.
“The issue is under review, and the file is being completed,” Razavi told Tasnim News Agency. "Any violations are under investigation, and the final decision will be made by the judiciary."
The embryos have since been moved to a different medical center “in coordination with the owners,” he said.
The controversy surfaced after Shargh newspaper reported on July 29 that multiple frozen embryos stored at Aban Hospital in Tehran had disappeared or been wrongly transferred.
Four months earlier, the hospital had abruptly shut down its IVF unit without informing families who had stored embryos, sperm, or eggs.
Families discovered the issue by accident, and in some cases were told that their embryos were either missing or delivered to the wrong recipients during the relocation process.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) is permitted in Iran under religious guidance. Demand for fertility services has surged in recent years as the country grapples with declining birth rates, rising infertility, and widespread economic uncertainty delaying marriage and childbearing.
Government policy has increasingly emphasized population growth, with officials urging couples to have more children. However, access to fertility care remains costly and largely urban-centered, driving some to entrust long-term embryo storage to major hospitals.
Aban Hospital is run by Iran University of Medical Sciences and falls under the Health Ministry.
However, health officials have denied any wrongdoing. “The embryos were being preserved under proper conditions,” Mohammadreza Foroughizad, head of public relations at the university, said on July 30.
University president Nader Tavakkoli dismissed the affair as a misunderstanding caused by temporary renovations and said no embryos had been harmed.
But Shargh reported that police visited the hospital on July 28 and formally registered family complaints. Many families still do not know where their frozen embryos are.
They are demanding accountability, judicial action, and compensation for damages, as well as the safe return of their biological material.
