Khloé Kardashian said she “own[s]” a frozen embryo and would not need to tell ex-partner Tristan Thompson if she decided to use it, prompting renewed attention to who controls embryos after in vitro fertilization (IVF). Newsweek reached out to Kardashian and Thompson's representatives via email for comment on Wednesday. There is no single U.S. rule determining control of frozen embryos.
According to family-building law firm Foster + Bloom, written disposition agreements and state law can determine who has decision-making authority, while disputes without clear agreements can end up in court. Past cases show how consequential those agreements can become. In 2015, NBC News reported an Illinois appellate court sided with a woman who wanted to use embryos created with an ex-partner after finding that an earlier oral agreement allowed her to do so.
Kardashian, 42, discussed the embryo on the October 15 episode of The Kardashians while talking to her mother, Kris Jenner, about whether she could see herself having another child. Her daughter True, 8, has taken a particular interest in the frozen embryo and named it “Tyla,” according to Kardashian. I own the embryo outright.
Don’t even need to tell Tristan that this is happening,” Kardashian said of Thompson, with whom she shares True and son Tatum, 4. "When we broke up, I had him sign that I could have it." She also explained that although she would personally like another daughter, her age and the demands of raising another child have made her uncertain about going ahead. The remarks later drew criticism from anti-abortion organization Live Action, which argued in a post on X that the discussion illustrated what it described as the “commodification of children” in IVF.
Kardashian's comments, however, raise a separate legal issue: what does it actually mean to “own” a frozen embryo? Unlike ownership of an ordinary piece of property, control of an embryo can involve reproductive rights, contracts and state-specific laws. Foster + Bloom says decision-making authority generally belongs jointly to the intended parents who created embryos and is governed by written embryo disposition agreements.
Those documents can address what will happen to remaining embryos if a couple separates or divorces, one person dies or becomes incapacitated or the intended parents finish building their family. Such agreements can also set out whether embryos may eventually be donated or used for scientific research, among other possibilities. Courts across most states enforce written disposition agreements using contract law principles, according to the firm.
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