Palm Springs fertility clinic resumes seeing patients after bombing

The American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs, which was the center of an alleged attack last week, reopened at a temporary location on Tuesday.

Less than two weeks after a car bomb destroyed its original building, the full-service IVF lab moved its facilities to the El Mirador Medical Plaza just across the street on Indian Canyon Drive. Now, Dr. Maheer Abdallah and his staff will resume seeing patients looking to build their families and start their reproductive journeys.

On the morning of May 17, a 25-year-old who the FBI says has "nihilistic ideations" allegedly bombed the center, destroying it and damaging several other businesses in the process. The suspect, Thousand Palms resident Guy Bartkus, died in the explosion.

Bartkus used commercially available chemical products to create the blast, the FBI says.

First responders managed to save the embryos located inside the clinic in a fast-acting recovery mission. A tearful Abdallah last week thanked firefighters during a news conference, who he says acted swiftly to preserve the future of many families that day.

"I'm thankful that my staff, the patients and all the embryos are safe," Abdallah said.

Abdallah vowed that the attack wouldn't deter him from his mission of helping families achieve healthy pregnancies. While the original building is demolished and rebuilt – a process which could take a lengthy amount of time – they'll work out of the El Mirador building and continue to see patients.

"We will rebuild," he said. "And I promise it will be on the same site and it will be better than before."