A mother sued her doctor and his medical practice for allegedly failing to perform a sterilization procedure she paid for and then failing to tell her that the procedure was not performed. She claimed the doctor’s actions caused an unplanned pregnancy and the birth of her healthy fourth child, a daughter now eight years old.
The Supreme Court of Texas stated in its May 10, 2024 Opinion: “Texas law does not regard a healthy child as an injury for which a parent must be compensated but, rather, as a life with inherent dignity and profound, immeasurable value. Thus, while the mother’s allegations state a claim for medical negligence under Texas law, the types of damages recoverable in a case like this one are far narrower than those available in the usual negligence case. Noneconomic
damages, such as mental anguish and physical pain and suffering, together with the economic costs of raising the healthy child, are not ecoverable as a matter of law. Rather, when a parent alleges that medical negligence caused the birth of a healthy child, recoverable damages are limited to the economic damages proximately caused by the negligence and incurred during the pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum period, such as medical expenses, if any.”
“We agree with Dr. Noe that there is no independent “wrongful pregnancy” cause of action under Texas law. And no purpose is served by labeling Velasco’s claim anything other than a claim for medical negligence … The fact that a parent is not injured by her child’s birth is what distinguishes this case from the typical medical-negligence claim.”
Noneconomic Damages Not Recoverable
“Pregnancy and childbirth are necessary to (and inseparable from) bringing about the child’s life, and juries cannot compensate a mother for the mental anguish and physical pain of either pregnancy or childbirth without treating the child’s very existence as an injury … To award money damages for experiences inherent to a healthy birth wrongly suggests the mother’s rightful position is one where the child had never been born—i.e., that carrying a healthy baby to term is an injury. Given the inextricable link between the nonpecuniary damages sought and the very existence of the child, we hold that a parent may not recover noneconomic damages in a medical-negligence case arising from a healthy child’s birth.”
Economic Damages
“[I]n a case in which medical negligence proximately caused the birth of a healthy child, the economic expenses of raising the child are not recoverable as a matter of law.”
“[M]edical expenses incurred during the pregnancy and postpartum period as a result of medical negligence are recoverable, as are the expenses incurred for the sterilization procedure that was not successfully performed … We emphasize, however, that, in deeming the mother’s prenatal, delivery, and postnatal medical expenses recoverable, the compensable injury is not the life of the child or even the pregnancy or birth. Rather, the injury is the actual economic costs for medical care incurred during the pregnancy and postpartum period. Those medical expenses are a direct and obvious result of the medical negligence, are easily calculable according to the ordinary techniques of tort law, and have no tendency to disparage the child’s existence.”
The Supreme Court of Texas concluded: “When a mother alleges that medical negligence proximately caused an unplanned pregnancy, that claim is not foreclosed merely because the ultimate result is the birth of a healthy child. But the recoverable damages are limited. The mother may recover the cost of the sterilization procedure and economic damages designed to compensate for injuries proximately caused by the negligence, such as medical expenses incurred during the pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal period, if proven. But Texas law does not permit recovery of the expenses of raising the healthy child, or any noneconomic damages, because the birth and life of a healthy child do not constitute an injury under Texas law.”
Source Noe, M.D. v. Velasco, No. 22-0410.
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