White mother given mixed race sperm in IVF loses compensation claimPosted in Articles, Health/Medicine/Genetics, Law, Media Archive, United Kingdom on 2010-10-17 02:34Z by Steven |
White mother given mixed race sperm in IVF loses compensation claim
British Medical Journal
Volume 341, Number 5806
2010-10-15
DOI: 10.1136/bmj.c5806
Clare Dyer
Two children in Northern Ireland whose white mother was mistakenly impregnated with sperm from South Africa labelled “Caucasian (Cape Coloured)” during in vitro fertilisation have failed in a compensation claim at the High Court in Belfast.
The children’s mother, who brought the case on their behalf, claimed that their quality of life was adversely affected because they looked markedly different from their parents and had quite different skin colour from each other. She said that they were subject to “abusive and derogatory comment and hurtful name calling from other children, causing emotional upset.”…
Read or purchase the article here.
[Note from Steven F. Riley]
Admittedly from a cursory glance, this article is perhaps the kind that belongs on the front page of a supermarket tabloid. However, the plaintiff’s claim of “abusive and derogatory comment and hurtful name calling from other children, causing emotional upset.” because of “differently looking” children does seem to merit some kind of thoughtful and intelligent commentary.
Needless to say, millions of families with “differently looking” children by the way of “correctly labeled” sperm and egg rendezvous—or by adoption—face the prospect “abuse and derogatory” comments every day. Thus a successful claim might have laid down a very, very interesting precedent.