Natalie Brumfield, 41, cried as she read about the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos in test tubes should be considered children. But on Wednesday, she learned that her clinic at the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system was halting I.V.F. “I don’t know what this means now,” Ms. Capilouto said on Wednesday, minutes after learning that her dream of having a child would be indefinitely suspended. Questions like hers are echoing across the country after the court’s ruling, which was handed down Feb. 16. The potential national implications remain unclear, but many women in Alabama are wondering how this new classification for embryos — one rooted in a religious belief — will affect their own journeys toward motherhood, a process that for many who seek I.V.F.

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Persons: Natalie Brumfield, Brumfield, Emily Capilouto, Ms, Capilouto Organizations: Alabama, University of Alabama Locations: Birmingham, Alabama