A so-called “wrongful birth” lawsuit makes it appear Cynthia Williams, a 40-year-old mother of three in Illinois, wishes one of her children were never born.
This wrongful birth lawsuit follows one which saw parents Parents Brock and Rhea Wuth were awarded $50 million by a Washington jury for the “wrongful birth” of their five-year-old son, Oliver. Oliver was born with an “unbalanced chromosome translocation,” a genetic defect that affects the little boy mentally and physically.
In this case, Williams is suing the physician who performed a tubal ligation her — claiming he botched the procedure and that it led to the birth of her daughter, who has sickle cell disease. She is now complaining about the difficulties surrounding the unexpected conception and birth of her now 4-yr-old daughter Kennadi.
According to an ABC News report, Williams is now suing her doctor for “wrongful pregnancy” because he cauterized the wrong Fallopian tube during the procedure, thus failing to prevent the conception of Kennadi.
“I was livid,” Williams said, recalling the “impossible” blue line on the pregnancy test, quickly confirmed by the flutter of a heartbeat on a sonogram. “I just lost it.”
When Williams was 12, she lost her right ovary to a cyst. At that time she also discovered that she carried the sickle cell trait -– a genetic abnormality that could cause a dangerous blood disorder in her kids.
She had the sterilization surgery in December 2008, but six months later, she was staring at the sonogram in disbelief.
Her fourth child, Kennadi, was born in February 2010 with sickle cell disease.
Now, Williams and her husband, Kenneth, are suing Dr. Byron Rosner of Reproductive Health Associates for “wrongful pregnancy,” claiming that he “failed to perform an adequate or appropriate tubal ligation,” resulting in an unplanned pregnancy and the birth of a sick child, according to the lawsuit.
Without a right ovary, Williams only needed her left Fallopian tube tied. But Rosner “tied,” “excised” and “cauterized” Williams’ right tube, according medical records obtained by ABCNews.com.
Williams’ left tube was intact and “normal in appearance” at the time of Kennadi’s birth, according to medical records from her C-section.
Although her lawsuit may make it appear otherwise, Williams claims she is happy to have Kennadi.
“I love Kennadi with all my heart, and that’s the honest-to-God truth,” said Williams. “But it’s been a life change for everybody –- my whole family.”
This case comes on the heels of one from New Zealand, where a couple won their case at a federal appeals court because they would have aborted their little girl had they known she had spina bifida. The parents of a child with the condition could win a monetary settlement following the ruling saying they were “denied” a chance to abort their daughter.
During ultrasounds scans as the pregnancy progressed, doctors missed signs of the birth “defect” and the couple said that, had the spina bifida been detected, they would have killed their daughter in an abortion. Instead, the little girl was born in 2007 and the couple has been in court even since.
The Court of Appeal ruling claims the couple “suffered a personal injury because of the misdiagnosis” and the case now returns to a district court.
“Wrongful birth and wrongful life lawsuits are just plain wrong,” says LifeNews blogger Rebecca Taylor.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
She adds: “The wrongful birth suit is brought by the parents of a sick or disabled child against a physician that, the parents say, was negligent. The wrongful birth lawsuit does not say that the doctor caused the disease or disability, which would be a valid reason to sue. Instead the wrongful birth lawsuit claims the that doctor failed to inform the parents of the illness or disability of the child and that had they known, they would have aborted their child. In other words, the parents are saying we wish our child was dead. Because he or she is not, the doctor has to pay.”
“The parents often use the excuse that they love their child; they are simply suing to acquire funds to care for their sick or disabled offspring. But to get those funds they have to insist that, had they known, they would have killed that very same child,” she continues.
