wrongful life

law

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Last updated

July 17, 2026

Quick Summary

The term "wrongful life" refers to a legal claim where a child sues, alleging that but for a doctor's negligence, they would not have been born at all. This claim is distinct from "wrongful birth," where parents sue because negligence deprived them of the choice to terminate a pregnancy, resulting in the birth of a child with defects. Courts have generally rejected wrongful life claims, citing difficulties in assessing damages and philosophical questions about the value of life. However, they are increasingly willing to award damages to children for handicaps and to compensate parents in wrongful birth cases for the costs associated with raising an "unwanted" child.1

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Gray areas
wrongful life actions, appearing first in the United States (from about the early 1970s) and later in Europe. The harmful event is typically negligence on the part of a doctor who fails to carry out effectively a sterilization operation, with the result that an “unwanted”…
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wrongful life actions, appearing first in the United States (from about the early 1970s) and later in Europe. The harmful event is typically negligence on the part of a doctor who fails to carry out effectively a sterilization operation, with the result that an “unwanted”…
Read More