Wrongful life

Child as an injury and Wrongful life (English with an error -affected life ) are legal buzzwords that the legal problems to a unintentionally hinder or even describe against the will of parents born child.

Initial situation is usually that of a pregnant doctor did not recognize it at fault, that the child will be born disabled or fails an abortion due to a treatment error. After the birth of the child, the parents take the attending physician based on contractual and tortious liability claim and desirable, for example, the costs of child maintenance as damage. At least conceivable is also a separate claim for damages of the child.

" Child as an injury " describes the problem with this is the view of the parents, "wrongful life" from the position of the child.

Legal treatment in Germany

In Germany such a claim for compensation is possible only within narrow, constitutionally given limits. One problem is that is the treatment contract is usually only come with the mother and not the father about. Due to the principles of the Treaty with protective effect for third parties but the father also a claim for damages to base after. The replacement capable damage here is not the child as such because classify the dignity of man, which follows from Article 1 of the Basic Law, it prohibits the child as a head of damage, however, are the maintenance costs a damage for which compensation dar. This is not between the disability- related costs and to distinguish the cost of a non- disabled child, as these costs are not divisible.

Whether the child also has a right to compensation, forms the core issue of the problem, because, if one affirms the inclusion of the child within the scope of the contract, this would be tantamount to a claim for non-existence. In a legitimate alternative behaviors, the doctor would have informed the pregnant woman on the disability of the child and the pregnant woman opted for an abortion. The right to non-existence does not exist, and it would also be incompatible with Article 1 of the Basic Law. In this respect, the child shall have no claim for damages.

Legal treatment in Austria

In Austria, the Supreme Court for damages has been awarded only in those cases where a disability or deformity of the child was not recognized due to a faulty prenatal diagnosis and the ( in Austria pursuant to § 97Vorlage: § / Maintenance / RIS Search Criminal Code in the presence of " embryopathic indication " no criminal ) abortion of the child was under remained. In these cases, the supreme court the parents to view the entire maintenance costs to replace, and not merely the overhead caused by the disability. On the other hand absolutely no compensation was in cases of category "wrongful conception" in which the failure of contraceptive measures (for example, vasectomy, tubal ligation ) resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, awarded because a healthy child can not constitute "damage" in the legal sense. The ( disabled ) child a claim for damages in respect of the unwanted own life ( "wrongful life" ), the Supreme Court has already ruled in a decision made in 1999.