Mother sues doctor for wrongful pregnancy

An Illinois woman is suing her doctor for "wrongful
pregnancy,” claiming a botched tubal ligation led
to the birth of a daughter with sickle cell disease .
Cynthia Williams, a 40-year-old mother of three,
only had one ovary and believed she couldn't get
pregnant because the tube tethering it to her
womb had been tied –- or so she thought.
“I was livid,” Williams said, recalling the
“impossible” blue line on the pregnancy test,
quickly confirmed by the flutter of a heartbeat on a
sonogram. “I just lost it.”
Williams was 12 years old when she lost her right
ovary to a cyst. On the same day, she discovered
that she carried the sickle cell trait -– a genetic
abnormality that could cause a dangerous blood
disorder in her kids.
The man Williams later married found out that he,
too, carried the trait after the couple’s second son
was born with sickle cell disease.
“That’s when we decided not to have more
children,” said Williams, who four years later
became pregnant while using the rhythm method
of birth control. There was a 25 percent chance
that the baby would have sickle cell disease, so
the Williams’ were relieved when she was born a
carrier instead.
Williams started taking the birth control pill, but
high blood pressure pushed her to find a more
permanent option.
“At that point, I just wanted to get my tubes tied,”
Williams said. She had the sterilization surgery in
December 2008. Six months later, she was staring
at the sonogram in disbelief.
Her fourth child, Kennadi, was born in February
2010 with sickle cell disease.
Learn more about sickle cell disease.
Now, Williams and her husband, Kenneth, are suing
Dr. Byron Rosner of Reproductive Health
Associates for “wrongful pregnancy,” claiming that
he “failed to perform an adequate or appropriate
tubal ligation,” resulting in an unplanned pregnancy
and the birth of a sick child, according to the
lawsuit.
Without a right ovary, Williams only needed her left
Fallopian tube tied. But Rosner "tied," "excised"
and "cauterized" Williams' right tube, according
medical records obtained by ABCNews.com.
Williams’ left tube was intact and “normal in
appearance” at the time of Kennadi’s birth,
according to medical records from her C-section.
Williams is seeking damages for “personal injury to
her, emotional distress, and for lost wages” as well
as “the extraordinary expenses” she expects to
incur raising Kennadi, according to court
documents.
“I love Kennadi with all my heart, and that’s the
honest-to-God truth,” said Williams. “But it’s been
a life change for everybody –- my whole family.”
The whole family helped raise Kennadi, since
Williams went into congestive heart failure shortly
after the caesarean delivery.
“This is right after I have a baby that I still can’t
believe I had,” she said, recalling her two-week
stay in intensive care and her nine-month leave of
absence from work. “I couldn’t be with my baby
because I was too sick.”
Williams recovered, but Kennadi, now 4, faces a
lifetime of health problems. Sickle cell disease
makes her normally round and squishy red blood
cells C-shaped and hard. Instead of flowing
smoothly through her blood vessels, her
misshaped cells become stuck, causing pain and
raising the risk of infections and stroke.
Though tubal ligation is considered a “permanent
method of birth control,” as many as 37 per 1,000
women become pregnant within 10 years after the
procedure, according to the American College of
Obstetrics and Gynecology. As a result, Williams
struggled to find a lawyer that was willing to take
her case.