Woman (black) given wrong sperm (white man's) at fertility clinic

[underpants]

Mods this is just over the LBN deadline and this isn't a joke story AT ALL so I put it here and not in LBN or the Lounge.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--fertilitymix-up0713jul13,0,824635.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

NEW HAVEN, Conn -- Laura Howard says she was hoping her trip to a fertility specialist would make her dream of a second child come true.

But as she was leaving the office, the doctor suddenly ran out to the lobby and called her back.


After realizing the mistake, Santomauro gave her a prescription for the morning after pill, Howard said, but she refused to take it. She said the doctor was "panicky" and encouraged her to get an abortion, but she said she decided to go forward with the pregnancy, citing her age and nearly five years of efforts to get pregnant.

"For me it's still my child," Howard said. "I've always wanted two."

Howard, who is black, believes the sperm came from a white man. Both of the other couples at the clinic that day were white, she said.

[New Dem]

1. terrible

my heart goes out to the couple - but i had always wondered about how many mistakes and accidents occur at these clinics.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Do you remember the white woman who gave birth to twins, and one was black

same situation. The black woman wound up adopting her own baby.

Honestly that seems weird to me, thinking of my biological child getting born out of someone else's body. For all the aches and pains, I would never give up having my kids myself if I was able to carry them to term.

Editing to add that I would be equally freaked if my egg wound up being given to someone else and I couldn't get it back. Still, I don't think I would ask the other person to abort it. Might ask for visitation rights, though.

[Blue-Jay]

3. There was a story several years ago..

about a European woman who, after being artificially inseminated, gave birth to twins, one white & one of obviously mixed race. Apparently, the staff at the clinic didn't do a good job of rinsing the container that the (ahem) sample was in, so she got swimmers from two different guys.

[chimpy the poopthrower]

4. I don't feel so sorry for this woman.

She could have taken the morning after pill, but she chose not to, for reasons that had nothing to do with her religion or beliefs. And now she is "haunted by questions"? I feel more sorry for the man whose semen she received. Without his consent, he has had a child with a woman he never met. I also feel bad that this woman's fiance now faces the prospect of raising a child who is not biologically his. This is nothing like adoption. Why on earth would she not discuss this decision with the man she was planning to marry and raise a child with?

[Dookus]

5. I agree

the clinic messed up, for sure, but she was made aware of it immediately and could've prevented the pregnancy. In fact, she's only about 6 weeks pregnant now. She doesn't have to have this unwanted child.

[Walt Starr]

7. The clinic is still liable in a civil suit

She can sue, and win, even though she did not take the morning after pill. all that is necessary is she testify she has a moral objection to taking the pill. Done deal. She can have her baby, AND receive a settlement.

[Dookus]

10. oh, I understand

I'm not saying she shouldn't have legal recourse. I just don't have any sympathy for her.

[iverglas]

11. I agree too

My sympathy is certainly with her for the unwanted pregnancy, but having the child is entirely her choice.

I think the point about the potential lawsuit was that her motives for continuing the pregnancy could possibly be less than purely conscientious.

As long as she asserts conscientious motives (and who's to prove otherwise?), she can avoid all of the ordinary responsibility to mitigate her damages. If the doctor had given her the wrong antibiotics, for instance, and she'd refused an offer of the right ones and continued taking the wrong ones, she would not be able to sue for any harm caused to her by the medication or the untreated disease. Here, she just has to say "oh, I could never have an abortion, it's against my conscience", and get to have the kid as a result of her own decision, and damages too.

She should have legal recourse for the trauma of an unwanted pregnancy caused by the doctor's negligence, and for the trauma of an abortion she didn't want, if she had one. But certainly not for the expenses of rearing a child she didn't want, when she chose to continue the pregnancy.

And yes, my sympathy is also with the man who will now be a father of a child that will have come into being through the doctor's negligence. By no means should he be able to compel the woman to terminate the pregnancy, or even to claim damages for her not terminating it, in my opinion; but he's certainly entitled to claim damages against the doctor ... if he ever knows about it all.

What a kettle of medical confidentiality issues this raises, in respect of both parties. Must the doctor tell the man? may the doctor tell the man?? that his sperm was used to create a pregnancy in the body of a woman he doesn't know, and who she is? Eek.

[noiretextatique]

6. sympathy isn't the issue

i can't imagine what i'd do in a such a difficult situation, but i can't blame the woman for not taking the pill. i can understand that she needed some time to make up her mind...that seems fairly reasonable to me.

[underpants]

8. I agree it isn't necessarily an unwanted child

An unbelievably hard decision for her and her fiance. I think that the Dr. immediately started asking her to abort it is telling.

Would THIS fall under the "frivolous" category?

[noiretextatique]

9. i think it would, but

i'll defer to the wisdom of our pro-life friends...