Although one can easily sympathize with the girl, this is probably just an enterprising lawyer looking for a score. If she wins, does this open the door to kids suing their fathers because their sperm didn’t make them perfect? Bad at sports — sue dad. Ugly nose — sue dad. A legal growth industry is born, so to speak.
SPERM should be subject to the same product liability laws as car brakes, according to a US judge who has given a teenager with severe learning disabilities the go-ahead to sue the sperm bank that provided her with a biological father.
Brittany Donovan, now 13 years old, was born with fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder causing mental impairment and carried on the X chromosome. She is now suing the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories of New York, under a product liability law more commonly associated with manufacturing defects, such as faulty car brakes.
Donovan does not have to show that Idant was negligent, only that the sperm it provided was unsafe and caused injury. “It doesn’t matter how much care was taken,” says Daniel Thistle, the lawyer representing Donovan, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Genetic tests have revealed that she inherited the disorder from her biological father.
Severe learning disabilities?? The lawyer and that judge seem to be suffering worse..
Does anyone think of the consequences of all these lawsuits? There were lawsuits over nut allergies, so now every food product is marked “may contain nuts” even if it doesn’t, and people with genuine nut allergies are running out of options.
Make sperm banks liable for the quality of the child that results, it just means they will buy (more) liability insurance, and pass the costs on to the customers. If you penalize every possible source of risk, nobody wins, except for the lawyers and insurance companies.
She needs to suck it up and deal with it. If it was a different sperm, she wouldn’t be here. Would she rather have that? That is what life is all about… making best of what you have. I see people with far worse disabilities do it.
Anyone else think that this could open the door for regular folks to sue their own parents who didn’t pay for sperm yet got something like their mother’s allergies?
It would seem that Rush Limdick and Ann Coulter would have a huge liability lawsuit opportunities.
Limpdick for faulty pig sperm. Pigs are not suppose sweat profusely, just stink.
Ann Coulter for rotten X-linked chromosomes from giraffe sperm. The Coulter family was looking for a female giraffe, not a male one.
Jesus, are we going to have to bailout sperm banks when we are all done here?
Somehow I suspect the lab is not too worried. The release forms the “parents” signed are probably pretty all-encompassing. I suspect this will be little more than a nuisance suit to them. Unless they knew the donor had a genetic disorder.Then all bets are off.
Since females have two X chromosomes, even if they have the problem, it is usually less severe than in males who have only one. Many women with the defect show no or minimal signs of the syndrome. Now, if they have both faulty X chromosomes, it’s time for a long face and dull thinking. Since the father can only donate one, this young lady needs to be testing her Momma for the problem. You can bet the laboratory will be requesting a testing. And it’s not really an uncommon finding. IIRC, it’s seen in about one in 3 or 4 thousand women in the US.
Now, if the young retard really wants to sue someone, try her “parents.” Sue them for giving her a defective life. She should try to get the case head in Canada…
Wouldn’t the girls mother be the one with the right to sue? Wouldn’t the girls mother also be liable?
Just don’t understand what these judges and lawyers.
“Donovan does not have to show that Idant was negligent, only that the sperm it provided was unsafe and caused injury.”
Sperm can be unsafe?
Sperm can cause injury?
“Brittany Donovan, now 13 years old, …is now suing the sperm bank,…”
No.
A 13-year-old with severe learning disabilities is -NOT- suing a sperm bank.
She can’t possibly understand what “product liability” means, let alone what “legal recourse” means.
This is momma upset she didn’t ask enough questions when she went shopping for some sperm, and is now stuck with supporting a child who will probably never be able to support herself.
>Does anyone think of the consequences of all these lawsuits?
Testicles are going to have to be labeled “may contain nuts”?
#09 LOL, good one.
..or something analogous to “..contains at least 80% Cashews and Almonds..”
Another Fed Judge that should be put out to pasture, in Antarctica…
It’s a business. The validity of the complaint depends on what the sperm bank advertised or claimed when the woman bought the sperm.
If for instance, Stephanie, you bought a Lexus ES300 based on it’s safety record, quality claims and reliability… and the bottom dropped out under the drivers seat as you drove away, leaving you a quadriplegic…. would you just make due with what you were dealt, or would you sue?
sperm shoots are also crap shoots..
This judge has pretty much opened the door for people to sue their parents for any genetic disorder that they pass on. Breast Cancer? Sue mom. Male pattern baldness? Sue dad. Don’t like the color of your hair or eyes? Sue them both. I like it!
I am not so sure about this.
http://www.fraxa.org/aboutFX_cause.aspx