Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1993
Abstract
Traditional tort law embraces an unduly narrow notion of corrective justice that fails to resolve wrongful life disputes satisfactorily. The unique circumstances associated with the creation of a new life bring into play another, broader paradigm of responsibility: one that resembles family law more than tort. From this perspective, children whose birth can be attributed to tortious conduct have a strong moral claim for supplemental child support whenever a tortfeasor's interference with the pro- creative rights of the parents foreseeably results in the birth of a child and that child's parents cannot provide adequate support. In such an instance, the tortfeasor's misconduct has irreversibly changed the status quo. A child has been born, and that child needs support. This fact materially distinguishes the consequences of this tort from other "harmless" negligence and justifies an obligation to contribute to the child's support.
Recommended Citation
Philip G. Peters Jr., Rethinking Wrongful Life: Bridging the Boundary between Tort and Family Law, 67 Tul. L. Rev. 397 (1992-1993)