Lesbian couple sues doctor after having twins
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, Medical conditions
I remember when Edan's mom first told me she was pregnant, I was petrified we'd have twins. Not that I wouldn't love them both -- in fact now I'd probably enjoy having a second rug rat to chase after -- but, at the time, the thought of twice the diapers, twice the food and, most importantly, twice the money seemed too overwhelming to contemplate.
Apparently that's what these two Australian women are worried about too. The couple underwent fertility treatment back in 2003, and specifically asked doctor Robert Armellin to implant the birth mother with one embryo. However, he implanted with two, and now, four years later, the pair want him to pay for his mistake.
They're suing for 398,000 Australian dollars (about 331,000 US dollars) -- what, in their estimation, will be the cost of raising one of the children.
I suppose, if the doctor did screw up, the couple are entitled to some kind of compensation. It just seems to sue a person for giving you a child.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mike D. 9-18-2007 @ 5:27PM
Tried Kashi and liked it a lot. Very nutritous
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Eva 9-18-2007 @ 11:10PM
I know everybody gets this wrong and nobody seems to notice when I constantly issue this correction whenever anyone talks about IVF but doctors DO NOT implant people with embryos. They TRANSFER EMBRYOS and everyone just HOPES they implant. So, I am assuming they agreed beforehand that they would just transfer one embryo, and the RE transferred two, and they both stuck. I can see suing for malpractice, I guess, but look, twins happen. If they were identical then it wouldn't have been the RE's "fault." If they are going to sue for something it should just be to be refunded the cost of the cycle of IVF.
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Uly 9-18-2007 @ 11:37PM
I understand why they're annoyed, but what sort of message does this send to their kids? "We only wanted one of you, so we only love each of you half as much - if that"? "One of you is the most expensive mistake of our lives, so stop asking for birthday presents, you brat"? "You're not worth the cost of raising you"?
If you want to control how many kids you have, adopt. That's foolproof. Generally, the transfer (thank you Eva) more than one embryo in case most of them don't implant, don't they? They got lucky (or not) - it wouldn't hurt now to suck it up, for the twins' sake.
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Eva 9-18-2007 @ 11:58PM
How many embryos to transfer is a hot button issue in the infertility community. This would actually make a really good post right now if someone at ParentDish cared to study up on it.
Usually if you are younger than 35 and have good-quality embryos, they'll just transfer one or two, depending on how freaked out the parents are about multiples. In Europe I think in some countries they NEVER transfer more than two--it's against the law.
There's a balance to be struck between trying to get a pregnancy and trying not to get multiples. There are lots of great reasons not to want twins and even better ones not to want more. Most of those higher-order multiples you hear about are NOT due to IVF but due to improperly monitored cycles where ovulation-inducing drugs were used, by the way. There is a big debate right now if doctors should be held accountable for such mistakes leading to higher-order multiples.
However this issue of transferring more than was agreed-upon isn't the same thing. Two isn't really that risky--the odds of having twins were small. The doc maybe just wanted the couple to have a baby, didn't agree with their decision to transfer just one, and figured they would never know the difference and would be more likely to get pregnant that way. Still, it's malpractice if it goes against their agreement since it is tampering with the mother's body (and her embryos).
However, like I said, reproductive medicine is no exact science. I say be happy you got a twofer.
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Caelligh 9-19-2007 @ 3:59PM
OF COURSE they sued. This has absolutely nothing to do with the couple not loving their second child and everything to do with the doctor not respecting the wishes of his/her patient. Instead of bemoaning the "message their sending their children" how about the message they'd be sending their doctor if they just rolled over?
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nicolebarber 9-19-2007 @ 7:39PM
what a bunch of ungrateful twitches. Be thankful you were able to have a baby or babies. Some women can't.
(Gee let me sue because my first born was a boy and not a girl ( jk)).
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valleydreamin 9-19-2007 @ 11:09PM
maybe the mommy who didn't carry the babies should make sure the babies are biologically related
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shannon lang 9-20-2007 @ 12:58AM
What must God think of this?
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Tam 9-20-2007 @ 3:33AM
how sad that some people just can't count their blessings when there are so many out there that would give everything they have for the chance to be a parent and have the precious gift these two women were given.
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