A severely disabled 24-year-old woman asked Australia's High Court on Thursday to allow her to sue her mother's doctor for allowing her to be born. Alexia Harriton was born deaf, blind, physically and mentally disabled, and requires 24 hour a day care, the domestic news agency AAP reported.
Her lawyers claim her mother's doctor was negligent in failing to diagnose rubella infection early in the pregnancy and wrongly reassured Olga Harriton that her child would not be affected.
Harriton counsel Bret Walker told the court that her mother should have been told of the consequences if the pregnancy went full term. Had the mother been made aware of the disabilities, she would have aborted the pregnancy, he said.
Keeden Waller, who was born through in-vitro fertilisation and is now three years old, is also claiming "wrongful life" after inheriting a clotting disorder from her father that was detectable in foetal testing.
The New South Wales Court of Appeal last year decided in a 2-1 judgement to reject the claims but both won special leave to bring their case to the High Court.
Lawyer Kathryn Booth said her client was seeking damages to cover the costs of special care, medical treatment, housing and other expenses.
Harriton's mother said she was seeking justice for her daughter and would not discuss compensation figures.
"We're here for Alexia, for justice and simply that's all it is," she told AAP. "We've got to look after her interests and the fact that she's been a fighter all her life.
"She's given us the strength and determination to keep going and we're her voice. She's got rights like all of us, whether she's disabled or not."
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