Court Opinion

ID: 9568793
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:07:38.458142+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:08:30.643233
License: Public Domain

Deen, Presiding Judge,
dissenting.
Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth. v. Graves, 252 Ga. 441 (314 SE2d 653) (1984), dealt only with a cause of action for an alleged “wrongful pregnancy.” That case did not deal with a claim for an alleged “wrongful birth.” Whatever else was decided by Graves, it is clear that five out of seven justices agreed on or stated the following at 442, 443, and 444: “An action brought by a child against the parents or physician on the theory that because of his illegitimacy or birth defects he would have been better not born has found almost no support in the law. ... We instinctively recoil from the notion that parents may suffer a compensable injury on the birth of a child. . . . The soundness of a rule denying recovery for the cost of raising a child lies in that, given the values cherished by our society, a parent cannot be said to have suffered an injury in the birth of a child.” (Emphasis supplied.)
Georgia should follow the judicial recognition of the notion of non-viability of any alleged “wrongful birth” claims, as has been adopted in states such as North Carolina and Missouri. See, e.g., Azzolino v. Dingfelder, 337 SE2d 528 (N. C. 1985); Wilson v. Kuenzi, 751 SW2d 741 (Mo. 1988). Acknowledging that the action in the instant case is labeled “wrongful birth,” nevertheless, our state seems to *286recognize that life is valuable and supports a “rightful birth” or preservation of life position. See and compare Emory Univ. v. Porubiansky, 248 Ga. 391, 393-394 (282 SE2d 903) (1981); Jefferson v. Griffin &c. Hosp. Auth., 247 Ga. 86, 90 (274 SE2d 457) (1981); McAuley v. Wills, 164 Ga. App. 812, 814 (298 SE2d 594), aff'd 251 Ga. 3 (303 SE2d 258) (1983); Peace v. Weisman, 186 Ga. App. 697, 700, 705 (368 SE2d 319) (1988).
Decided March 16, 1990
Rehearing denied March 30, 1990
Alston & Bird, Judson Graves, Bryan A. Vroon, for appellants.
Keenan Law Firm, Don C. Keenan, David S. Bills, for appellees.
Jones, Brown & Brennan, Taylor W. Jones, Myles E. Eastwood, amici curiae.
While defendants’ failure to have disclosed the risks to the parents of not undergoing amniocentesis as an element of prenatal care would otherwise be actionable, under the rule adopted in Azzolino and in Graves, the claim for “wrongful birth” is outside the parameters of traditional tort principles. As there is no “legally cognizable injury,” ergo, it follows there can be no cause of action or recovery. Any duty under the new informed consent laws requiring disclosure of risks was not imposed at times relevant in this case. This point is thus not here considered.
The practice of medicine and the practice of law are generally considered as inexact sciences. See Blount v. Moore, 159 Ga. App. 80 (282 SE2d 720) (1981); Jackson v. Rodriquez, 173 Ga. App. 211 (325 SE2d 857) (1984). To permit a claim or cause of action for a “wrongful birth” would place an onerous burden on the medical profession of giving unlimited and unnamed tests of all kinds and descriptions to prospective mothers, and, in my opinion, would be contrary to (a) statutory law, (b) case law, and (c) public policy of our state. The antithesis of “wrongful birth” is “premature death,” or “rightful death,” and with this new policy espoused in the majority opinion, I cannot agree. The motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim should have been granted by the trial court; therefore, I must respectfully dissent.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Banke joins in this dissent.