Download This PaperA Wrong Without a Remedy: Leaving Parents and Children with a Hollow Victory in Lawsuits against Unscrupulous Sperm Banks
14 Pages Posted: 25 Jan 2022 Last revised: 11 Feb 2023
Date Written: January 23, 2022
Abstract
For over five years, parents of children conceived with sperm purchased from the Atlanta-based sperm bank Xytex have sued the company for debilitating genetic conditions allegedly originating from the sperm. These lawsuits rely on a wide range of different legal theories, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, professional negligence, product liability, unfair trade practices, unjust enrichment, and battery. Until recently, state and federal courts in Georgia dismissed these claims as tantamount to claims for wrongful birth, a cause of action rejected by the Supreme Court of Georgia in 1990. The Supreme Court of Georgia recently distinguished several of the plaintiffs’ theories of recovery from wrongful birth, finally enabling pending claims against Xytex to proceed to discovery. However, this may prove to be a hollow victory because the recovery available under viable claims against Xytex is likely to be insufficient to finance plaintiffs’ litigation efforts. The Supreme Court of Georgia has, for practical purposes, left the victims of unscrupulous sperm banks without a remedy.
Keywords: assisted reproductive technology, sperm bank, tort liability, abortion politics, fraud
JEL Classification: I13, I14, I18
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Yaniv Heled
Georgia State University College of Law ( email )
85 Park Pl NE
Atlanta, GA 30303
United States
404-413-9092 (Phone)
Timothy D. Lytton (Contact Author)
Georgia State University - College of Law ( email )
P.O. Box 4037
Atlanta, GA 30302-4037
United States
HOME PAGE: http://law.gsu.edu/profile/timothy-d-lytton/