Australian couple loses court case over twins' birth
Categories: Pregnancy & birth, 2Moms2Dads, In the news
Nearly a year ago, an Australian couple made headlines when they sued their doctors for transferring two embryos during an IVF procedure when they explicitly said that they only wanted one. There was a mix-up in communication, and the doctor transferred two, which resulted in the birth of the couple's twins. The couple ruffled feathers by suing their doctor for the cost of raising the second child, or about $331,000 U.S.
This week, the couple's case was thrown out of court after a judge decided that the doctor in the case wasn't negligent, but the mother was for changing her mind in the first place and not being clear in her wishes. Australian doctors have come out in support of the judge's decision, while the mothers say they may appeal. They stress that the court case was never about how much they love their now 4-year-old twins, but that they feel the doctor should be held responsible for his error.
It's hard for many people to imagine going to court because you got two healthy babies instead of one. But deciding how many embryos to transfer can be complicated for parents. I have friends who debated about it for weeks, because he really, really didn't want twins, but she really, really didn't want to go through IVF another time and wanted to improve their odds of having a healthy baby. The couple in Australia very clearly wanted one child, and through doctor error got two. I wouldn't have gone to court, I think, because -- like this couple -- I would have loved and cherished the children despite the confusion, and I wouldn't have wanted ever wanted them to feel unwanted. But this couple obviously felt strongly enough to take that risk.
What would you have done?
This week, the couple's case was thrown out of court after a judge decided that the doctor in the case wasn't negligent, but the mother was for changing her mind in the first place and not being clear in her wishes. Australian doctors have come out in support of the judge's decision, while the mothers say they may appeal. They stress that the court case was never about how much they love their now 4-year-old twins, but that they feel the doctor should be held responsible for his error.
It's hard for many people to imagine going to court because you got two healthy babies instead of one. But deciding how many embryos to transfer can be complicated for parents. I have friends who debated about it for weeks, because he really, really didn't want twins, but she really, really didn't want to go through IVF another time and wanted to improve their odds of having a healthy baby. The couple in Australia very clearly wanted one child, and through doctor error got two. I wouldn't have gone to court, I think, because -- like this couple -- I would have loved and cherished the children despite the confusion, and I wouldn't have wanted ever wanted them to feel unwanted. But this couple obviously felt strongly enough to take that risk.
What would you have done?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SWOODS 7-27-2008 @ 3:15PM
Lets see....hummm....What would have I done? Get on my knees and thank God that I had 2 healty babies?!! Are those parents crazy? May God help the children ! How will the "2nd." child feel when he/she finds out about this when they get older?
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Tamyu 7-28-2008 @ 12:34AM
It may be easy to say they should just be happy about having children at all - Which I`m sure they are - you also have to think about money.
Raising just one child is a lot of money. It`s easier to raise one child past a certain age, then move to the next. You have all the baby things from child #1 which you can use for child #2. With twins, you NEED two of most everything. Just as it`s irresponsible to have a single child when you feel you don`t have the money to raise it, it`s irresponsible to choose to have twins when you cannot afford them.
I think that is the problem at the heart of this. The couple felt they did not have the money to raise twins, and actively made the choice not to risk having them... Which the doctor ignored. It isn`t about not loving or wanting that second baby, it`s about giving their children the best life possible. Or at least, that`s how it looks.
If the doctor really did override her wishes, then I do feel the doctor is at fault. Not for causing twins, but for simply not following patients` wishes. Especially as there is a much higher risk of complications with multiples.
While I love my son to death, I would not want to have two of him at the same time. It would be stressful, and our finances could not support it.
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