Rethinking Wrongful Life: Bridging the Boundary between Tort and Family Law

Traditional tort law embraces an unduly narrow notion of corrective justice that fails to resolve wrongful life disputes satisfactorily. The unique circumstances associated with the creation of a new life bring into play another, broader paradigm of responsibility: one that resembles family law more than tort. From this perspective, children whose birth can be attributed to tortious conduct have a strong moral claim for supplemental child support whenever a tortfeasor\u27s interference with the pro- creative rights of the parents foreseeably results in the birth of a child and that child\u27s parents cannot provide adequate support. In such an instance, the tortfeasor\u27s misconduct has irreversibly changed the status quo. A child has been born, and that child needs support. This fact materially distinguishes the consequences of this tort from other harmless negligence and justifies an obligation to contribute to the child\u27s support