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In the wake of the San Francisco incident, Herbert said the clinic has begun a conscientious letter-writing campaign to about 500 of the clinic's patients \"that may have been involved in this tank.\"

\"PHOTO:
STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images
PHOTO: Cryogenic storage containers for eggs to be used for invitro fertilization are pictured in this undated stock photo.
>

A substantial number of the patients who have stored embryos in the clinic have essentially let them stay there unused for around 8 to 10 years, Herbert said.

He said those tissues were never discarded.

So, Herbert added, there are large number of the 500 patients whose eggs and embryos stored at their facility are going to be \"people who probably won't use them anyway.\"

That doesn't lessen the rise in anxieties that he and his colleagues know patients are going through as a result of the \"unfortunate incident.\"

Herbert expressed \"condolences\" and said he feels sadness \"for any of the discomfort or concerns that our patients\" experienced as a result of the storage tank situation.

He reassured that the clinic has \"viable embryos\" and that the clinic has put in place more fail-safe measures to prevent a repeat of the tank failure.

\"People are planning their families based off this technology so we've actually ordered a third alarm system for every tank, that's separate from the tank, so it's gonna be an independent alarm system we hope will help us,\" he said.

Anybody second-guessing Cryopreservation should take heed in the clinic's track record and expertise, Herbert said.

\"We’ve created many, many babies for women over the years,\" he said. \"And all the possible checks and balances that can be put in place ... we’re adding new redundancies [that] are gonna be in place.

Katie DenDaas and Edward Wiese contributed to this article.

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