Court Opinion

ID: 9789506
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:37:18.164128+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:22.730245
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RANSOM, Justice (specially concurring). I fully concur with the opinion we announce today, except that I cannot join in the author’s express disapproval of Judge Alarid’s application of Clark v. Cassetty. When Judge Alarid said “the term ‘injury’ in tort law refers to the wrongful act or tort itself” he expressly included within that injury “the doctor’s act in only ligating one fallopian tube and then failing to inform Maria Mendez that she was still fertile.” The unligated tube and the misinformation are to this case what the fire was to Clark. Judge Alarid and Justice Montgomery each have used good rationale to explain their conclusions. In this case, Mrs. Mendez was injured the moment the doctor breached his duty to exercise requisite care and left her with an unligated tube in the sterilization operation, and she was further injured when he failed to inform her of the unsuccessful outcome. Except for harm that we may deem too remote as a matter of public policy, Mrs. Mendez is entitled to recover damages for all harm proximately caused by the injury. I agree impairment of financial security is not too remote a “harm.” It is an interest to which we should give legal protection. APPENDIX OPINION ALARID, Judge. This is a medical malpractice action. Plaintiffs, Jacob and Maria Mendez, appeal from the order of the trial court granting defendant, Lovelace Medical Center, partial summary judgment with respect to all claims for the cost of raising their third child, Joseph Mendez, to the age of majority. Defendant contends, and we agree, that this is purely an issue of law, which is a proper basis for summary judgment. See General Elec. Credit Cory. v. Tidenberg, 78 N.M. 59, 428 P.2d 33 (1967). Defendant has not conceded liability, but because the motion for partial summary judgment was directed only to the issue of damages, we view plaintiffs’ factual allegations as true. Thus, for purposes of review, we assume, as the trial court did, that plaintiffs will be able to prove liability as well as other facts offered in opposition to partial summary judgment. We reverse the partial summary judgment and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. FACTS Maria and Jacob Mendez, a married couple, decided that they wanted to limit the size'of their family. From the record in this case, it appears that this decision was based on their belief that they could not afford to raise more than two children. Accordingly, after the birth of the couple’s second child, Maria underwent a tubal ligation performed by a doctor employed by defendant. The doctor found and ligated only one of Maria’s two fallopian tubes, which meant that Maria was still able to conceive a child. According to the allegations of the complaint, defendant’s employee negligently failed to inform Maria that only one of her tubes had been found and ligated, that despite the surgery she was still able to conceive a child, and that she should therefore continue to use birth control measures. The not surprising result of this alleged negligence was that Maria conceived a third child, Joseph, within months of the surgery. After Joseph was bom, plaintiffs filed this malpractice action. Defendant moved for partial dismissal or partial summary judgment, contending that, as a matter of law, plaintiffs were not entitled to recover as damages the costs of raising Joseph from his birth through the age of majority. The factual basis for this motion is undisputed. Defendant submitted an affidavit in support of its motion showing that Joseph’s health is “within normal limits.” Plaintiffs submitted the affidavit of Dr. Everett Dillman, an economist, who estimated that, based on information from the United States Department of Agriculture, the costs of raising Joseph to age eighteen, based on a moderate level of support, will be $93,164. Dr. Dillman estimated an additional $28,228 for required care for Joseph based on federal minimum wage using ten hours a week to age eighteen. In addition, Jacob and Maria both submitted affidavits restating the substance of the allegations in the complaint and detailing the financial problems that developed as the result of the unexpected pregnancy. The trial court granted defendant’s motion, holding that it was “difficult for this Court to recognize the birth of a child as a compensable legal harm, even though the rearing of the child will lead to unexpected expense.” Accordingly, the trial court held that damages in the action should be limited to the costs of the pregnancy and delivery, the second tubal ligation, and any pain and suffering found by the jury. The trial court certified the issue for interlocutory appeal. This court granted the interlocutory appeal. We now reverse the partial summary judgment. I. APPELLATE JURISDICTION OVER THIS APPEAL [OMITTED] II. DAMAGES RECOVERABLE FOR MEDICAL MALPRACTICE The legal issue before this court is whether plaintiffs in this medical malpractice action are entitled to seek, as part of their compensatory damages, an amount representing the present value of the reasonable out-of-pocket expenses they will incur in raising Joseph to the age of majority, referred to hereafter as the expenses of raising the child or child-rearing expenses. Defendant argues plaintiffs are seeking to create a new cause of action, an action for “wrongful birth.” From a review of the cases and literature on this subject, we believe it has mischaracterized this suit. Generally, courts and commentators have characterized actions by the parents of a child who is not normal and healthy, for the expenses of raising the child, as “wrongful birth” actions. A case such as this, in which the parents of a normal, healthy child sue on their own behalf for those damages, has been more properly characterized as a “wrongful conception” or “wrongful pregnancy” action. See, e.g., Johnston v. Elkins, 241 Kan. 407, 736 P.2d 935 (1987); Morris v. Sanchez, 746 P.2d 184 (Okla.1987); Smith v. Gore, 728 S.W.2d 738 (Tenn.1987). These actions are contrasted with actions for “wrongful life,” in which the child, who is not normal and healthy, sues on his own behalf for having been born with defects due to a physician’s negligence. See id. We recognize that courts and commentators have found these labels useful. However, we view plaintiffs’ claims as an ordinary claim for negligence or medical malpractice, and the damages at issue here as damages that plaintiffs are entitled to claim under ordinary principles of tort law as applied in this state. We reject defendant’s implicit argument that there should be something different about the damages at stake here because the money, if any, ultimately awarded by the jury will be used to pay expenses incurred in raising Joseph, rather than just those expenses usually associated with malpractice, such as the expenses associated with the second tubal ligation. The elements of a cause of action for medical malpractice are well established in this state. In New Mexico, a doctor is required to possess and apply the knowledge and to use the skill and care ordinarily used by reasonably well-qualified doctors in the same field of medicine practicing under similar circumstances. SCRA 1986, 13-1101. This duty includes a duty to provide the patient with certain information. See SCRA 1986,13-1104A. A doctor who breáches this duty is liable for the harm that results to the patient if a reasonably prudent person would have acted upon the information to avoid the harm. SCRA 1986, 13-1116B. When a plaintiff has proved a case under these principles, the plaintiff is entitled to recover, as part of the compensatory damages, “[t]he reasonable value of necessary nonmedical expenses which have been required as a result of the injury [and the present cash value of such nonmedical expenses reasonably certain to be required in the future].” SCRA 1986, 13-1805 (brackets in original). In New Mexico, as elsewhere, the purpose of compensatory damages is to make an injured person whole. Hood v. Fulkerson, 102 N.M. 677, 680, 699 P.2d 608, 611 (1985); Fredenburgh v. Allied Van Lines, Inc., 79 N.M. 593, 596, 446 P.2d 868, 871 (1968) (“The measure of damages should be that which fully and fairly compensates for the injuries received.”); Topmiller v. Cain, 99 N.M. 311, 314, 657 P.2d 638, 641 (Ct.App.1983); see also Abbinett v. Fox, 103 N.M. 80, 86, 703 P.2d 177, 183 (Ct.App. 1985); 4 Restatement (Second) of Torts § 901, 917 (1979). Indeed, one of the functions of compensatory damages is to indemnify the injured party against financial losses proximately caused by the negligence of another. Id., §§ 901, 903. The primary issue is whether the damages are a reasonably foreseeable result of the negligence of the defendant. Cf. Topmiller v. Cain; 4 Restatement (Second) of Torts § 917. Defendant does not challenge these long-established principles of tort law. Instead, defendant argues that this court should, for public policy reasons, carve out an exception to the general policies of tort law, and rule that plaintiffs cannot recover the expenses of raising the child. We decline to do so. This court is bound by precedents of the supreme court. Alexander v. Delgado, 84 N.M. 717, 507 P.2d 778 (1973). We believe that under current New Mexico law, including uniform jury instructions approved by the supreme court, plaintiffs are entitled to recover for the costs of raising Joseph. Moreover, even if we did not believe this matter is clear under current law, we would still hold plaintiffs are entitled to recover these damages. Tort law has traditionally been concerned with the allocation of the financial consequences of a defendant’s negligence. See e.g., Wilschinsky v. Medina, 108 N.M. 511, 516, 775 P.2d 713, 718 (1989) (“We do not live in a risk-free society, but rather a risk-allocative one.”); cf 4 Restatement (Second) of Torts §§ 901, 903; W. Keeton, D. Dobbs, R. Keeton & D. Owen, Prosser and Keeton on Torts § 1 (5th ed. 1984). We see no reason to relieve defendant of the responsibility imposed by ordinary principles of tort law, which require defendant to indemnify plaintiffs against the financial consequences that are the proximate result of defendant’s negligence. We are well aware that other jurisdictions have decided this issue differently.1 We are concerned that the number of these cases gives a false impression of unanimity. Many of these decisions include strong dissents from one or more judges, criticizing the rationale of the majority and urging the adoption of a different rule.2 A number of commentators have been equally critical of the majority rule that these damages should not be allowed.3 Even the courts that have reached the same result have been unable to agree on a single rationale. Some courts have based their decision on the rationale that the damages are speculative or would permit imposition of liability disproportionate to the defendant’s culpability. See, e.g., Coleman v. Garrison, 349 A.2d 8 (Del.1975); Miller v. Johnson, 231 Va. 177, 343 S.E.2d 301 (1986); Beardsley v. Wierdsma, 650 P.2d 288 (Wyo.1982). Other courts have expressed concern that allowing the recovery of such damages would inflict a traumatic injury on the child. See, e.g., Boone v. Mullendore, 416 So.2d 718 (Ala.1982). Still other courts have grounded their decisions on their perceptions of public policy as expressed in the laws of the state concerning families. See, e.g., Flowers v. District of Columbia, 478 A.2d 1073 (D.C.App.1984); Smith v. Gore, 728 S.W.2d 738 (Tenn.1987). The rationale most commonly adopted by the courts, and relied upon by the dissent and the trial court in this case, is that parents cannot, as a matter of law, be injured by the birth of a normal, healthy child. We disagree with the position adopted by other courts and adopted in the dissent because we do not think it is either a sound legal analysis or a sound policy analysis. Properly used, the term “injury” in tort law refers to the wrongful act or tort itself. Clark v. Cassetty, 71 N.M. 89, 376 P.2d 37 (1962). Similarly, the term “damage” is usually used to denote the financial consequences of the injury, which are ordinarily recoverable in tort. Cf id. In this case, the injury is the doctor’s act in only ligating one fallopian tube and then failing to inform Maria Mendez that she was still fertile and should continue using some means of birth control. We do not, and need not, reach the issue of whether the measure of damages allowed here would be the same as those allowed in a case where the patient had been fully informed of the result and properly advised of the consequences. If plaintiffs can prove the allegations in the complaint, then plaintiffs have been injured. The vast majority of jurisdictions recognize this injury as one for which plaintiffs should receive some compensation. The critical issue on which the courts have diverged is the question of whether the compensation should include indemnification against the expenses of raising the child conceived as a result of the doctor’s negligence. We believe that requiring defendant to indemnify plaintiffs against the expense of raising the child is the more sound policy. Recovery of money damages in tort actions is grounded on policy reasons. As noted above, damages in tort actions are designed to put plaintiffs as nearly as possible in the position they would have been absent defendant’s negligence, and to indemnify plaintiffs against financial expenses or losses that are the result of a defendant’s negligence. 4 Restatement (Second) of Torts § 901. To a lesser extent, money damages are also designed to deter negligence, by insuring that a negligent act has consequences for the actor. Recovery of the expenses of raising a child serves both these purposes. A number of courts have held that the birth of a child does not constitute a harm to the parents. These decisions do not always discuss the underlying basis for the holding. There appear to be several notions encompassed in this policy judgment. First, at least one commentator has suggested that this view is rooted in a time when society was largely agricultural, and children were actively involved in those activities, thereby generating an economic benefit for their parents. See Cheslik, Wrongful Conception, 35 Fed’n Ins. Couns. Q. 289 (Spring 1985). This basis for the policy has long since vanished. In a post-industrial society, the cost of raising a child usually exceeds the economic benefit, if any, the family derives from the child. Defendant is, of course, free to attempt to prove that is not so in this case. Second, it appears that some courts have adopted this position because they are concerned that allowing plaintiffs to recover the expenses of raising a child is inconsistent with society’s acknowledgement of the sanctity of life, and the high value we place on it. See, e.g., O’Toole v. Greenberg, 64 N.Y.2d 427, 477 N.E.2d 445, 488 N.Y.S.2d 143 (1985). We bow to no one in our respect for the sanctity and value of human life. Indeed, we believe our decision today promotes rather than inhibits those values. We cannot understand why the sanctity of human life justifies denying recovery of the expense of raising the child. The harsh irony of this position is apparent: two people who have already decided that they cannot afford to raise another child will be left to find a way to do so. Our philosophical respect for human life should not be allowed to obscure the fact that children need to be fed, clothed, housed, educated, and provided with medical care and other necessities. A growing number of people in this country decide whether or not to become parents, or how many children to have, based in part on their financial resources. See Rinard v. Biczak, 177 Mich. App. 287, 441 N.W.2d 441 (1989). We do not understand why a proper respect for human life would require us to reach a result that is, at best, callously indifferent to the needs of these parents and their children. In a similar vein, we note that at least two courts have justified the result urged on us by defendant on the basis of a concern for family life. See Smith v. Gore; Flowers v. District of Columbia. We believe our decision today will strengthen rather than weaken family life. As judges who have served on both the trial and the appellate courts of this state, we are well aware that families today are under enormous strains, and that some of these strains are financial. We are also aware that some families are literally torn apart by divorce as a result of financial burdens that they cannot shoulder. When that happens, the entire family suffers. As it happens to more and more families, society as a whole suffers. We will not, in the name of the sanctity of human life, adopt a policy that increases the financial burdens on parents who have chosen to avoid the additional expense of raising a child. To do so would only further weaken the family as an institution. We believe the policy urged on us by defendant is shortsighted at best. Defendant has argued that if plaintiffs are allowed to seek recovery of the out-of-pocket expenses of raising Joseph, the jury should be instructed to value the intangible emotional benefits plaintiffs will receive from raising him, and subtract that amount from the compensatory award. We recognize that a number of courts have held that this is appropriate. See cases cited in footnote 1. Again, we believe this position is unsound from both a legal and a policy standpoint. Defendant’s argument that plaintiffs are seeking to be compensated for Joseph’s birth fails to recognize the distinction between two types of compensatory damages: damages for past and future mental pain and suffering, and damages designed to indemnify plaintiffs against past and future out-of-pocket expenses that are the proximate result of a defendant’s negligence. The “offset the benefits” rule appears to be based on 4 Restatement (Second) of Torts § 920. However, the comments to the section make it clear that this rule should be applied only to offset similar kinds of damages. Id., comments a, b. In the context of this case, that would mean that the emotional benefits of raising the child could be offset against any pain and suffering plaintiffs might claim, but not against the financial expense incurred in raising the child. The Restatement is not authority for the kind of offset urged on us by defendant. More importantly, the law of New Mexico is against allowing recovery for negligent damage to the intangible emotional benefits of family life. In Roseberry v. Starkovich, 73 N.M. 211, 387 P.2d 321 (1963), our supreme court held that one spouse could not recover damages for loss of consortium resulting from a negligent injury to the other spouse. More recently, this court held in Wilson v. Galt, 100 N.M. 227, 668 P.2d 1104 (Ct.App.1983), that parents have no cause of action for loss of filial consortium. While the benefits of family life may be significant, in both cases recovery was denied in part because the benefits are intangible and too difficult to measure. In both cases, however, the parties were allowed to recover for economic consequences of the defendant’s negligence. To now allow defendants to claim the intangible benefits of family life as an offset against the economic consequences of their actions would be illogical. By the same token, we believe the offset rationale is unsound from a policy standpoint. We think most parents would agree that raising children involves both great joy and heavy burdens. The responsibility of raising a child is not one to be lightly undertaken. We share the concern of other courts that have criticized this rule as encouraging parents to denigrate their children. We do not find it palatable, in a case such as this, for the parties to indulge in arguments concerning the intangible benefits and burdens of parenthood. The intangible benefits or burdens a child provides are too speculative and would encourage the parties and the jury to engage in distasteful moral determinations. Given the procedural posture of this case, it is difficult to determine whether plaintiffs are seeking damages for emotional or psychological pain and suffering caused by an unplanned addition to their family. However, since the issue may be raised after the case is remanded, we hold that plaintiffs may not seek compensation for emotional or psychological burdens caused by the raising of Joseph, nor may defendant present evidence of emotional and psychological benefits of parenthood. We hold that plaintiffs may recover for the expense, including lost wages, and the physical and emotional pain and suffering associated with the pregnancy and birth, the cost of a subsequent sterilization, and the cost of raising the child to the age of majority. No other psychological or emotional evidence or instructions should be allowed. Finally, we address the question of whether a plaintiff in this type of case is required to mitigate damages by either having an abortion or placing the child for adoption. We hold such is not required. Mitigation of damages is an affirmative defense that must be pled and proved by the defendant in a personal injury action. Acme Cigarette Servs., Inc. v. Gallegos, 91 N.M. 577, 577 P.2d 885 (Ct.App.1978). The law in this state is that a person injured by the tort of another is required to use ordinary care to minimize or lessen the injuries sustained. SCRA 1986, 13-1811; Rutledge v. Johnson, 81 N.M. 217, 465 P.2d 274 (1970). This principle has been applied most frequently in cases in which a plaintiff failed to recover fully from his injuries due to his failure to follow his doctor’s instructions. See, e.g., Martinez ex rel. Martinez v. Vigil, 105 N.M. 741, 737 P.2d 100 (Ct.App.1987). We note, however, that all that is required is that the injured party undertake ordinary or reasonable measures to mitigate damages. See Mitchell v. Jones, 47 N.M. 169, 138 P.2d 522 (1943); Selgado v. Commercial Warehouse Co., 88 N.M. 579, 544 P.2d 719 (Ct.App.1975); see also SCRA 1986, 13-1811. We agree with other courts that have considered this issue, and hold that, as a matter of law, neither abortion nor adoption is an ordinary or a reasonable measure as that phrase is used in the law relating to mitigation of damages. See, e.g., University of Ariz. Health Sciences Center v. Superior Court, 136 Ariz. 579, 667 P.2d 1294 (1983) (En Banc); Jones v. Malinowski, 299 Md. 257, 473 A.2d 429 (1984); Sherlock v. Stillwater Clinic, 260 N.W.2d 169 (Minn.1977). We recognize that both of these alternatives are available to and chosen by a certain number of families every year. However, we do not believe either course of action may properly be required in order to mitigate the financial consequences of the doctor’s negligence. The trial court shall not allow argument on this issue, nor instruct the jury concerning the requirement of mitigation unless another factual basis for the instruction is established by the evidence at trial. The trial court’s order granting defendant partial summary judgment on this issue is vacated. This case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. IT IS SO ORDERED. /s/ A. JOSEPH ALARID, Judge I CONCUR: /s/ BENJAMIN ANTHONY CHAVEZ, Judge WILLIAM W. BIVINS, Chief Judge, concurring in part, dissenting in part  . Thirty-eight jurisdictions have addressed this issue. Twenty-nine jurisdictions deny child-rearing damages in "wrongful conception” cases: ALABAMA, Boone v. Mullendore, 416 So.2d 718 (Ala. 1982); ARKANSAS, Wilbur v. Kerr, 275 Ark. 239, 628 S.W.2d 568 (1982); DELAWARE, Coleman v. Garrison, 349 A.2d 8 (Del. 1975); DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Flowers v. District of Columbia, 478 A.2d 1073 (D.C.App. 1984); FLORIDA, Public Health Trust v. Brown, 388 So.2d 1084 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1980); GEORGIA, Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth. v. Graves, 252 Ga. 441, 314 S.E.2d 653 (1984); ILLINOIS, Cockrum v. Baumgartner, 95 Ill.2d 193, 69 Ill.Dec. 168, 447 N.E.2d 385, cert. denied sub nom. Raja v. Michael Reese Hosp., 464 U.S. 846, 104 S.Ct. 149, 78 L.Ed.2d 139 (1983); INDIANA, Garrison v. Foy, 486 N.E.2d 5 (Ind.Ct.App.1985); IOWA, Nanke v. Napier, 346 N.W.2d 520 (Iowa 1984); KANSAS, Byrd v. Wesley Medical Center, 237 Kan. 215, 699 P.2d 459 (1985); KENTUCKY, Schork v. Huber, 648 S.W.2d 861 (Ky.1983); MAINE, Macomber v. Dillman, 505 A.2d 810 (Me.1986); MICHIGAN, Rinard v. Biczak, 177 Mich.App. 287, 441 N.W.2d 441 (1989); MISSOURI, Miller v. Duhart, 637 S.W.2d 183 (Mo.Ct.App.1982); NEW HAMPSHIRE, Kingsbury v. Smith, 122 N.H. 237, 442 A.2d 1003 (1982) (court referred to case as "wrongful birth" case, but child was healthy); NEW JERSEY, P. v. Portadin, 179 N.J.Super. 465, 432 A.2d 556 (1981); NEW YORK, O'Toole v. Greenberg, 64 N.Y.2d 427, 477 N.E.2d 445, 488 N.Y.S.2d 143 (1985); NORTH CAROLINA, Jackson v. Bumgardner, 318 N.C. 172, 347 S.E.2d 743 (1986); OHIO, Johnson v. University Hosps. of Cleveland, 44 Ohio St.3d 49, 540 N.E.2d 1370 (1989); OKLAHOMA, Morris v. Sanchez, 746 P.2d 184 (Okla.1987); PENNSYLVANIA, Mason v. Western Pa. Hosp., 499 Pa. 484, 453 A.2d 974 (1982); TENNESSEE, Smith v. Gore, 728 S.W.2d 738 (Tenn.1987); TEXAS, Terrell v. Garcia, 496 S.W.2d 124 (Tex.Civ.App.1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 927, 94 S.Ct. 1434, 39 L.Ed.2d 484 (1974); UTAH, C.S. v. Nielson, 767 P.2d 504 (Utah 1988); VIRGINIA, Miller v. Johnson, 231 Va. 177, 343 S.E.2d 301 (1986); WASHINGTON, McKernan v. Aasheim, 102 Wash.2d 411, 687 P.2d 850 (1984) (En Banc); WEST VIRGINIA, James G. v. Caserta, 332 S.E.2d 872 (W.Va.1985); WISCONSIN, Rieck v. Medical Protective Co. of Fort Wayne, Ind., 64 Wis.2d 514, 219 N.W.2d 242 (1974); WYOMING, Beardsley v. Wierdsma, 650 P.2d 288 (Wyo.1982) (court spoke in terms of "wrongful life" or "wrongful birth,” but child in case was healthy). LOUISIANA has not directly addressed the "wrongful conception" issue; however, in a “wrongful birth" case, the court refused to award child-rearing damages, and intimated the result would be the same if the child were healthy. Pitre v. Opelousas Gen. Hosp., 530 So.2d 1151 (La. 1988). NEVADA apparently denies any recovery in “wrongful conception" actions grounded in tort, even medical expenses surrounding the birth of the child, but has not foreclosed the possibility of damages for actions grounded in contract. Szekeres v. Robinson, 102 Nev. 93, 715 P.2d 1076 (1986). Several jurisdictions do allow some recovery for child-rearing expenses, but, under the "offsetting benefits" rule, allow the jury to deduct from that award the intangible benefits the parents receive from parenthood. ARIZONA, University of Ariz Health Sciences Center v. Superior Court, 136 Ariz. 579, 667 P.2d 1294 (1983) (En Banc); CALIFORNIA, Stills v. Gratton, 55 Cal. App.3d 698, 127 Cal.Rptr. 652 (1976); CONNECTICUT, Ochs v. Borrelli, 187 Conn. 253, 445 A.2d 883 (1982); MARYLAND, Jones v. Malinowski, 299 Md. 257, 473 A.2d 429 (1984); MINNESOTA, Sherlock v. Stillwater Clinic, 260 N.W.2d 169 (Minn. 1977). (A subsequent Minnesota case noted that Sherlock "may, perhaps, have been erroneous,” given a later statute prohibiting wrongful life and wrongful birth causes of action. Hickman v. Group Health Plan, Inc., 396 N.W.2d 10, 14 n. 5 (Minn.1986).)   . See, e.g., Flowers v. District of Columbia, 478 A.2d 1073 (D.C.App.1984) (majority holds plaintiffs cannot recover the expenses of raising the child; Ferren, J., dissenting, would adopt the offsetting the benefits rule); Public Health Trust v. Brown, 388 So.2d 1084 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1980) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Pearson, J., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule); Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth. v. Graves, 252 Ga. 441, 314 S.E.2d 653 (1984) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Gregory and Smith, JJ., dissenting, would allow recovery of the expenses of raising the child, apparently without offset); Cockrum v. Baumgartner, 95 Ill.2d 193, 69 Ill.Dec. 168, 447 N.E.2d 385, cert. denied sub nom. Raja v. Michael Reese Hosp., 464 U.S. 846, 104 S.Ct. 149, 78 L.Ed.2d 139 (1983) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Clark and Simon, JJ., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule); Nanke v. Napier, 346 N.W.2d 520 (Iowa 1984) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Wolle, J., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule); Schork v. Huber, 648 S.W.2d 861 (Ky.1983) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Leibson, J., dissenting, would allow recovery of the expense of raising the child; Vance, J., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule); Macomber v. Dillman, 505 A.2d 810 (Me.1986) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Scolnik, J., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule); Morris v. Sanchez, 746 P.2d 184 (Okla. 1987) (majority holds no recovery for expenses of raising the child; Opala and Kauger, JJ., dissenting, would adopt offsetting the benefits rule).   . See Comment, Wrongful Pregnancy: Child Rearing Damages Deserve Full Judicial Consideration, 8 Pace L.Rev. 313 (1988) (arguing for recovery of the expense of raising the child); Cheslik, Wrongful Conception, 35 Fed’n Ins. Couns. Q. 289 (Spring 1985); Comment, Judicial Limitations on Damages Recoverable for the Wrongful Birth of a Healthy Infant, 68 Va.L.Rev. on (1982) (arguing in favor of recovery of the expense of raising the child); Comment, One More Mouth to Feed: A Look at Physicians’ Liability for the Negligent Performance of Sterilization Operations, 25 Ariz.L.Rev. 1069 (Fall 1983) (arguing in favor of the offsetting the benefits rule); Kashi, The Case of the Unwanted Blessing: Wrongful Life, 31 U.Miami L.Rev. 1409 (1977) (arguing in favor of recovery of the expense of raising the child); Robertson, Civil Liability Arising from "Wrongful Birth"Following an Unsuccessful Sterilization Operation, 4 Am.J.L. & Med. 131 (1978) (arguing in favor of recovery of expense of raising the child); Note, Wrongful Conception: Who Pays for Bringing Up Baby?, 47 Fordham L.Rev. 418 (1978) (arguing in favor of the off setting the benefits rule).