Posted on 03/09/2012 12:16:53 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On the June 2007 day their daughter was born, Ariel and Deborah Levy were overcome with excitement, then shock when hospital staff told them their daughter looked like she had Down syndrome.
A doctor asked Deborah Levy if she'd had a prenatal test -- a chorionic villus sampling, or CVS for short -- and Levy said yes, the results showed they'd have a normal, healthy child.
Within days of her birth, however, blood test confirmed that the little girl, Kalanit, had Down syndrome.
The Levys filed suit against Legacy Health, claiming that Deborah Levy would have aborted her pregnancy had she known her daughter had the chromosomal abnormality. The lawsuit blames Legacy's Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in North Portland and a Legacy lab for allegedly botching the test. The Levys -- who dearly love their daughter, now 4 -- want Legacy to pay for extra life-time costs of caring for her. That is estimated at about $3 million.
This afternoon, after nine days of trial in a downtown Portland courtroom, 12 jurors began deliberating in a case that gets to the core of how we view and value a life, and asks who should have to pay when that life is less than optimal. Experts say such "wrongful birth" cases are extraordinarily rare nationwide, for one, because prenatal tests such as the CVS are as much as 99.7 percent accurate and when they fail, few parents are willing to endure the scrutiny of a legal challenge. But wrongful birth lawsuits may be becoming more common as technology advances, more women in their late 30s or 40s give birth and millions of expectant mothers come to rely on genetic screenings.
Internet commenters have assailed the couple as heartless. The Levys' attorney, David K. Miller, said the couple has received death threats.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Pathetic. Let somebody adopt the child, unless it is about money and not what is right and just.
Give the little girl up for adoption and call it a day -
I’ll take her! Did I read this correctly, is this 2 women who had this baby?
Sorry, I find this couple a disgusting pair. I was thirty-six nearly thirty-seven when I was pregnant with my daughter. I did not even consider amnio or any other test for ‘birth defects’ because I knew that NO MATTER WHAT I was going to have and love this beautiful child. I think this pair is no doubt a set of poster adults for Obama’s death panels
The parents would not want me on that jury.
Even if I were pro-choice, they would have to prove that the people giving the test were negligent. All the defendant has to say is the test is 97% accurate and I’d say, “hmmm, without proof of neglgence, welcome to the 3%, folks.
Sick people. Whether or not a child has downs, he or she is still a great gift of God.
I have noticed that more and more people are becoming insidious and sinister as time goes by. It’s not coincidence that this is happening more under Obama’s watch.
—I’ll take her! Did I read this correctly, is this 2 women who had this baby?—
Nah, Ariel is the father’s name. ;)
Soloman would have handed this couple a hammer and told them to go ahead now and resolve their problem.
The problem is, that I fear they would indeed kill the child.
Down syndrome people are sweet and kind, much unlike these parents.
It’s not about love of children any longer with these types.
Children have become an accessory and if a child is “flawed”, it’s tossed like common refuse.
Sick.
I cannot even imagine growing up knowing that my parents would have killed me had they known I would turn out the way I am....just heartless!
Isn’t it sweet how they say they love her dearly, now? I am afraid for that child. Words fail me.
They value life so little, they do not deserve the honor of the miracle!
Disgusting Low Lifes!
“... who should have to pay when that life is less than optimal”.
“Less than optimal” defined by whom? I bet if you ask this four year old child if she enjoys life, the answer will be yes. Does she laugh and smile? The answer will be yes. Does she feel love? The answer is yes. The only aspect of this child’s life that is LESS THAN OPTIMAL is that she has parents who would have aborted her.
Deborah, you are four and do not understand these things. I am sure it will be painful when someone points out that your parents would have murdered you. I hope you also find out many prayed for you, would have paid any price to take care of you. We also pray for your parents.. I do not know what it is like because my children were all healthy, but I have seen the love of parents change a child’s prognosis from the outside. Think of Ray Charles, Stevie wonder and the hosts of people who succeeded in spite of their disability. Love and prayers!
Our son was conceived “late” in life, we were blessed to get him and briefly discussed the amnio because the Dr. brought it up.
After what we went through to conceive, the thought was dismissed almost as quickly as it was brought up.
I went to the sourced article, and from what I can tell, Ariel is a guy.
Okay, admitting first off that I want to wring this couple’s neck along with everyone else...I’m going to go out on a limb and dream for a minute that God convicts their hearts of sin and brings them to repentance about this matter. In my dream they testify from humbled, now happy, hearts that they are so blessed to have this child and are thankful to the Lord for saving them and their baby.
How’s that for a happy—if sadly unlikely—outcome?
Ariel is typically a jewish male name.
IMO the ones with the chromosal abnormality are the parents.
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