A Practical Guide to Wrongful Conception, Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life Claims

The law on recovery of damages in wrongful conception, wrongful birth and wrongful life cases has been treated as settled for some time following the cases of McFarlane v Tayside Health Board [2000] 2 A.C. 59, Parkinson v St James and Seacroft University Hospital NHS Trust [2001] EWCA Civ 530, Rees v Darlington Memorial Hospital NHS Trust [2004] 1 A.C. 309 and McKay v Essex Area Health Authority [1982] Q.B. 116.

This book takes an in-depth look at those key cases and their application in practice. There do also remain unanswered questions regarding the limits of recovery in these areas: this book provides an insight into those potential areas for development, as well as exploring the approach taken in foreign jurisdictions and examining recent UK cases in these areas in detail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rebecca Greenstreet was called to the Bar in 2013 and is a personal injury and clinical negligence specialist. She is a member of Hardwicke chambers and lives in Sydney, Australia.

During her time in practice Rebecca acted for both claimants and defendants in clinical negligence matters and in all aspects of personal injury, including road traffic accidents, fraud, occupiers’ liability, employers’ liability, historic sexual abuse, industrial disease and inquests. She regularly appeared in costs matters arising in such claims, including both QOCS and fixed costs arguments.

Rebecca has a keen interest in medical ethics, previously volunteering for the Patient Advisory Liaison Service which provided a complaints resolution service within a busy and struggling hospital. She read Law at St Hugh’s College Oxford before undertaking a Masters Degree in Health Care Ethics and Law at Manchester University. Rebecca’s postgraduate dissertation provided inspiration for this book, exploring whether the law governing awards for child rearing costs in wrongful birth and wrongful conception claims was satisfactory.