The Dutch High Court awarded damages on Friday to a severely handicapped 11-year-old girl because medics would not test for a genetic defect before her birth, despite her mother’s request.
Court documents show the ruling in the “Baby Kelly” case makes the Netherlands the second European country after France to award compensation in a so-called wrongful life case.
The documents say the mother had asked doctors to examine the fetus because of serious genetic defects present in the father’s side of the family, which, if detected, would have prompted the mother to abort the baby.