Damages for Wrongful Birth

While recovery of damages for wrongful death was sanctioned in England as early as 1846 and is now available by statute in every state, the law has been loathe to afford a remedy for wrongful birth. Plaintiffs who have attempted to cope with the problem of people- pollution by various birth control methods, only to have their ecolog- ical efforts stymied by the negligence of a physician performing a sterilization operation or a pharmacist dispensing birth control pills, have been denied a remedy for what, in this writer's view, is the "wrongful birth" of the resulting child. This paper will examine the long, hard road of non-recovery for plaintiffs who have sought vainly, through no fault of their own, to limit their family size through sterilization and birth control pills. It has culminated in two courageous decisions, which portend the demise of damnum absque injuria for wrongful birth.