SYDNEY (AFP) - A lesbian couple in Australia launched legal action Tuesday, seeking damages from their doctor after one gave birth to twins after fertility treatment, rather than a single baby.
The women, who cannot be named, are suing doctor Robert Armellin for more than 400,000 dollars (330,000 US) to cover the cost of raising one of the twin girls until the age of 21, Australian Associated Press reported.
The birth mother of the girls, who are now aged three, told the Supreme Court in Canberra that Armellin implanted her with two embryos, when she told him minutes before the IVF procedure in November 2003 that she only wanted one.
The woman said she and her partner briefly considered putting one of the babies up for adoption but dismissed the idea, deciding it would be unfair to both twins, who are non-identical.
The couple want 398,000 dollars to cover the costs of raising one of the girls, including private school fees, about 15,000 to compensate them for time off work, plus an additional amount for medical expenses.
IVF, or in vitro fertilisation, involves mixing eggs and sperm together outside the woman's body in a culture dish or test-tube before transplantation into the womb.
IVF access in Australia varies from state to state. An attempt in 2000 by conservative Prime Minister John Howard to limit the technology to heterosexual couples was rejected in the Senate.
Please comment....
...all i can say is god has a warped sense of humour. the best plan those kids ever had at a normal education without the traumatic schoolyard experiences has been traded for a law suit... and yet, strangely understandable that she be upset her pussy be mangled, and her partners remain undisturbed....
i think its just about the right to do it, and not the love of family.
