Couple Who Wanted Baby Sue Over Having Twins

[Noel's angel]

Thu Sep 20, 2:20 AM ET

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A lesbian couple in Australia are suing their doctor after they had twin girls from an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure when they only wanted one child.

The two women are seeking more than A$400,000 (£171,941) in damages to help pay for the cost of raising the second child, including private school fees, saying they made it clear to their doctor that they only wanted one baby.

The twins are now three years old and the civil case, the first of its kind in Australia, has prompted debate about the value of children and role of parents.

"The litigation involving twins already three years old undermines the importance of parenthood," conservative government Senator Guy Barnett said on Thursday.

"We seem more intent on preserving and pandering to the wishes of adults, than we are in protecting the rights of children," he said.

Barnett called for banning same-sex couples and unmarried women from access to publicly-funded IVF services, sparking a new moral debate ahead of national elections, due at any time.

The case is being heard in Canberra, where letters published in the local Canberra Times newspaper overwhelmingly criticised the legal action after the birth of two healthy children.

"The child's identity is subsumed to the whim of the mother who has bought the sperm and paid the IVF clinic," columnist Angela Shanahan wrote in The Australian newspaper.

"Ultimately the result is the child as product, robbed of its unique identity."

The court has ordered a gag on the identity of the women, who used donor sperm from a Danish doctor for the IVF treatment in 2003 which resulted in the birth of twin girls.

The court has heard that they signed a consent form to allow two embryos to be implanted, but specifically told their specialist they only wanted one embryo implanted.

The court was told the birth of the twins had created considerable stress within the couples' relationship, but lawyers for the doctor said that almost every couple who had a child went through similar strain.

[url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070920/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_australia_twins;_ylt=AgbZMOuJM1vAlUq51k5XzTtiBIF"]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070920/od_uk_...lUq51k5XzTtiBIF[/url]

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I think we should sue the "couple" for undergoing a procedure that relies on the automatic abortion of several children and being upset that they didn't miscarry. That's what IVF is, afterall...you get a whole bunch of embryos and hope that most miscarry. It's just plain sick.

[prose]

People like that need Christ more than anyone could possibly imagine.

[SarahB]

Just think how those children are going to feel. I mean, how do you have twin girls and then decide which one it was you didn't want? They're going to grow up realizing that their mom's didn't want one of them. Yuck. That whole situation is just disgusting.

[knightec]

Once more there is proof that we are allowed to sue over anything and everything.

[MissScripture]

[quote name='SarahB' post='1389138' date='Sep 20 2007, 01:47 PM']Just think how those children are going to feel. I mean, how do you have twin girls and then decide which one it was you didn't want? They're going to grow up realizing that their mom's didn't want one of them. Yuck. That whole situation is just disgusting.[/quote]
No kidding, and when the kids fight, what do you think they're going to say? "They wanted me! You're the one they wanted to get rid of!" Ouch. But you can't really blame the kids, since obviously that's what they're being raised with. How are they ever supposed to value anyone when they won't even value themselves?
How can those women not see what they're doing??

[SarahB]

My question is, don't they tell you when you have IVF, etc, that they can cause multiple pregnancies? So, if they knew that, and they signed on for it, then I can't imagine that they really have a case.

[doe-jo]

[MissScripture]

[quote name='SarahB' post='1389143' date='Sep 20 2007, 01:56 PM']My question is, don't they tell you when you have IVF, etc, that they can cause multiple pregnancies? So, if they knew that, and they signed on for it, then I can't imagine that they really have a case.[/quote]

And it did say this in the article:
[quote name='Noel's angel' post='1389103' date='Sep 20 2007, 01:06 PM']The court has heard that they signed a consent form to allow two embryos to be implanted, but specifically told their specialist they only wanted one embryo implanted.[/quote]

[SarahB]

So, wait.....they signed a consent form stating they would allow two embryos to be implanted, but then said they only wanted one? I would think that the fact that they consented in writing to allow two to be implanted would supercede anything they said verbally.

[MissScripture]

I would tend to agree with you. But if the judges in Australia are anything like in America...who knows how this'll turn out.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='SarahB' post='1389152' date='Sep 20 2007, 07:11 PM']So, wait.....they signed a consent form stating they would allow two embryos to be implanted, but then said they only wanted one? I would think that the fact that they consented in writing to allow two to be implanted would supercede anything they said verbally.[/quote]

Yeah, it seems like that would take precedence. I mean, wouldn't the fact that they have that in writing mean that they don't really have much of a case?

I just feel horrible for those girls!

[Tufsoles]

This is such a frivilous suit. Using IVF, a woman is taking a chance of having mutliple births. a person can not control how many children they are having at one time, that is obviously god's decsion.

[prose]

Not to mention, would they still sue if they were identical twins?

[CatherineM]

As someone who has experienced a miscarriage, all I can say is that the world seems more nuts to me everyday. Lesbians whose "marriage" is being tested by having twins. I don't know where to start on what is wrong with this picture. It's a good thing they have social medicine in Australia, because those kids are going to need it.