Mother Files Wrongful Birth Lawsuit After Botched Abortion Didn’t Kill Her Son

International   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Aug 22, 2016   |   2:43PM   |   Sydney, Australia

The Australian baby boy was not supposed to be born alive.

In August 2013, his 20-year-old mother from Victoria, Australia had an abortion, but it did not kill him; almost eight months later, she gave birth to him alive, Eyewitness 10 News in Australia reports.

The woman, who is unnamed, recently filed a lawsuit against the abortion doctor and the public health sector because of the botched abortion. The woman claims she has suffered immense psychological trauma and financial burdens because her son is alive today, according to the report.

Here’s more from the report:

After undergoing surgical termination the women also claims doctors ignored signs that she might still be pregnant, a court statement read.

She returned to her GP, reporting a slight tenderness and a prickly sensation in her belly.

They allegedly failed to conduct an ultrasound to confirm this, resulting in the woman claiming the hospital was negligent and in breach of the duty of care they owed her.

In December, a blood test determined high levels of hormones were still present in the 20-year-old. While an ultrasound performed five days later confirmed the women from country Victoria was in fact 20-weeks pregnant.

The woman wants financial compensation both for her psychological treatment, which she says stems from the incident, and for raising her son, including housing, clothes, schooling and food for him, the report states.

Kate Booth, a lawyer who specializes in medical negligence, told News Talk radio 3AW that there is a possibility that the woman could be awarded compensation for the “wrongful birth” case. However, Booth said Australian law is still unclear about such cases, especially when the baby is born healthy, as appears to be the case in the current matter.

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In the U.S., parents have both succeeded and failed in “wrongful birth” cases involving abortions. In February, a Montana woman lost a case against her doctor and nurse after claiming that they did not offer her information about prenatal screenings for cystic fibrosis, LifeNews reported. The woman’s daughter was born with cystic fibrosis, and the mother said she would have aborted the child if she had learned about the condition before birth.

However, in 2013, a Washington state couple won $50 million in a lawsuit when they claimed they were denied information that could have led them to abort their disabled baby, LifeNews reported. The Seattle Times said the couple knew based on their family medical history they were at a 50-50 chance of having children suffering from a rare but debilitating genetic disorder called “unbalanced chromosome translocation,” but a genetic test failed to detect the disorder in their unborn baby.

LifeNews contributor Rebecca Taylor previously described such cases as disturbing and wrong.

“The wrongful birth suit is brought by the parents of a sick or disabled child against a physician that, the parents say, was negligent,” Taylor said. “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 continued.

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