IVF mother sues doctors... because she gave birth to a boy instead of a girl

[Honey]

A woman who discarded male IVF embryos in an attempt to prevent a life-threatening disorder being passed on to her child is suing after giving birth to a boy.

The 30-year-old Australian woman and her husband used IVF with the aim of producing a baby girl because they feared a boy would be born with the inherited blood disorder haemophilia.
After asking doctors not to implant male embryos during the treatment, the woman, who has been named only as Fiona, became pregnant with what she thought was a daughter.
She was left stunned when doctors announced: "It's a boy!" Fiona and her husband Paul, from Melbourne, then learned that their son Jess had indeed inherited haemophilia, which affects only males.
The disorder prevents the blood clotting.
Now, in what is believed to be a world first, the couple are suing IVF doctors in Melbourne, claiming they have suffered shock and anxiety.
They are asking for compensation for their loss of income because of the extra care they have to give to Jess, who was born in June 2005. "We love our little boy but we are very sorry he has to go through so much in his life," Fiona said yesterday.

IVF mother sues doctors... because she gave birth to a boy instead of a girl | the Daily Mail

[yanna]

Well, the only reason she had IVF in the first place was to have a girl and not a boy so how could the doctors mess up on something as simple as that? I agree that she deserves some sort of compensation, haemophilia is no laughing matter.

[crumpet]

Maybe she just could have accepted the limitations that her medical condition came with and adopted a kid instead? Oh, no. I forgot. This is the entitlement generation where everyone is supposed to have whatever they want, their way, no matter what.

[LynnieD]

Hmmm....thats a tough one. I assumed, prior to reading the article, that this couple just wanted a girl because thats what they wanted....but because it's due to a medical condition. Geez....

I agree with Crumpet, maybe adoption?

[Folieadeux]

There was a similar case here in Australia when a couple sued because they wanted one child through IVF, but ended up with twins. Of course much ado was made over it because the couple were lesbians. I don't know what eventuated from it.

My knowledge on IVF is limited, but if there was a way to distinguish between Male and Female embryos, and her request was specifically for a Female then I do understand their point.

[MrsDark]

It's simple. They paid for a service they didn't get. They have every right to sue for those reasons alone. The fact that the medical errors directly caused the situation they are in now, where a little boy is and will be living in danger for the rest of his life, and his parents will be out extra time and income plus dealing with the stress of constant worry over their kid's health and life (a situation they went to the docs trying to avoid in the first place), oh yeah....I think they have a right to sue. Big time.

[sputnik]

i'm not sure. i agree they had good reason for requesting a girl but people should also be made aware of the fact that medicine isn't an exact science and that doctors make mistakes about babies' sex all the time because the technology still isn't 100%. i may be wrong but i don't think you can know a baby's sex for sure from the embryo?

[Dixie Normos]

I'd sue too. For the insane amount of money IVF costs, the doc better be damn-ass sure it's done correctly, ESPECIALLY since hemophelia is such a dangerous disease to have. Can you imagine if the kid ever needed surgery?

[AliceInWonderland]

bitch.

[A*O]

Even if she had a girl the child would have a high chance of being a carrier of haemophilia and would face the same problem when SHE had children in the future.

If you know you are the carrier of a life-threatening genetic disorder that your children have a high chance of inheriting them DON'T HAVE KIDS. There's plenty of perfectly healthy kids out there available for adoption.

IVF is being used and abused way too often these days.

And how much money does this bitch want? Would a few hundred thousand cure her son? A million?? Come on lady, how much do you want to make it all better???

[msdeb]

Originally Posted by A*O

If you know you are the carrier of a life-threatening genetic disorder that your children have a high chance of inheriting them DON'T HAVE KIDS. There's plenty of perfectly healthy kids out there available for adoption.
???

i agree with you 100 percent. i knew a family when i was a kid that had 3 boys with hemophilia. just a simple knock against the wall created big time problems. why take the chance that you might have a boy with IVF? why not adopt?

[Cravindirt]

Why didn't she determine the sex of the baby through an ultrasound before she gave birth?
If it was so important to her that she delivered a girl it seems probable that she would want an ultrasound to make sure that she was carrying a girl.

[MrsMarsters]

Well I honestly think she is an idiot, just doesn't make any sense to me as why she would risk anything like that.

[pacific breeze]

I don't see how she is a bitch because the doctors screwed up. Having children wasn't the best decision, but adoption isn't all that easy and then you have a lot of people attacking you for that, too. God knows I've seen it at GR often enough.

[msdeb]

if there is even a 1 percent chance of bringing a child into this world with a severe disability like Hemophilia, i would never do it. adoption is an option that they could have explored.

i sure would like to see the contract they drew up. i wonder if there is a clause in it that states the child may be a male. the entire case is very interesting, someone is going to lose no matter who wins.