In most circumstances, parents are excited to learn that they are pregnant, and they celebrate the birth and life of their child with joy. However, there are instances when an unplanned pregnancy or birth defects in the child can be caused by medical malpractice on behalf of a person's doctor or healthcare provider. These situations are legally termed wrongful pregnancy, birth, and life.

A wrongful pregnancy occurs when a woman becomes pregnant or remains pregnant after a medical procedure meant to prevent or terminate conception. When a woman wants to purposely become sterile, she can undergo a hysterectomy. This occurs when a doctor removes the uterus from a woman's body. Additionally, a woman may instead choose to get her tubes tied, or more formally, undergo a tubal ligation. During this process, doctors burn, snip, or block fallopian tubes so that an egg cannot travel down to the uterus, nor can sperm travel up the tube and impregnate an egg.

For men, the common sterilization procedure is called a vasectomy. A vasectomy is similar to a tubal ligation in that the vas deferens, or the tube that carries the sperm, is severed or blocked so that sperm cannot leave the man's body to impregnate an egg. With a total hysterectomy, there is no remaining chance that a woman will get pregnant. However, with a vasectomy and tubal ligation, there is a tiny chance that the surgery could fail and result in an unplanned pregnancy.

If doctors fail to inform a patient of this small risk of pregnancy, or if they do not correctly perform the surgery, a person may become wrongfully pregnant. On the other hand, if a woman is already pregnant but wishes to terminate the fetus, she has the ability to get an abortion. If doctors fail in the abortion process, the woman can remain pregnant, which is a wrongful pregnancy as well.

A wrongful birth happens when doctors fail to diagnose congenital birth defects or fails to protect against induced birth defects. For example, a mother who suffers from rubella during her pregnancy may give birth to an abnormal child if left untreated. These wrongful births can end up being expensive since children with birth defects may need special care and treatment.

Lastly, a wrongful life lawsuit can be brought forward when doctors do not warn parents that an unborn child may be severely disabled when it is born. In this case, parents claim that they would have aborted or otherwise terminated the pregnancy had they known about the extent of the birth defect in the child. Often, a wrongful life lawsuit may be pursued on behalf of the child.

Wrongful pregnancy, birth, and life can be expensive for parents of disabled children. If you or someone you know has suffered through this experience of medical malpractice, you should talk to an attorney about the possibility of gaining financial compensation.

For more information regarding medical malpractice, as well as other forms of personal injury law, check out the personal injury lawyers at Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C., today.