Ohio Supreme Court rules child-rearing costs not recoverable in wrongful birth suit

The parents of a boy born with severe birth defects could not recover child-rearing costs as a component of damages for receiving negligent genetic testing and counseling prior to and during the pregnancy, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled.

The plaintiffs sought genetic counseling from

the defendants after experiencing difficulties in having a child. Diagnostic testing revealed that the mother had a chromosomal condition that put her at risk of bearing children with serious birth defects. After conceiving, the mother underwent further testing. Based on these test results, the defendants allegedly advised the plaintiffs that the fetus would develop normally.

When their son was born with serious birth defects, the plaintiffs filed a medical malpractice suit alleging that they lost the opportunity to terminate the pregnancy because of the defendants' negligence in administering and interpreting genetic tests.

The plaintiffs sought economic damages for the costs associated with raising and supporting a disabled child, and noneconomic damages for the emotional and physical toll of raising a disabled child.