Recovery of Limited Damages in Wrongful Pregnancy Action: Johnson v. University Hospitals of Cleveland

The birth of a healthy, normal child in American society is generally considered a blessed event. This is not always so when the pregnancy is unwanted or unplanned. Joy is not always followed by the birth of a child whose mother\u27s pregnancy resulted from a failed sterilization or a failed abortion because of a physician\u27s negligent act. The abortion or sterilization may have been sought because of the fear that a pregnancy would result in a child who might threaten the mother\u27s physical wellbeing or would put a financial strain on the family. Such negligence on the part of a physician has given rise to the casue of action in tort known as wrongful pregnancy . ALthough most jurisdictions presently recognize a wrongful pregnancy cause of action as a part of tort law, they differ as to what damages an injured plaintiff may recover. The jurisdictions which have addressed this issue have developed several possible theories on the damages to be recovered in wrongful pregnancy actions