Question
Who has rights against whom? Please include the causes of action and your analysis of the chances for success in each action. Avery and Alma
Who has rights against whom? Please include the causes of action and your analysis of the chances for success in each action.
Avery and Alma Grobstein wanted a child for years, but Avery proved infertile. Artificial insemination of Alma also proved unsuccessful because her uterus is unable to maintain a fertilized ovum. A year ago they consulted Dr. Lopez, a specialist in the treatment of infertility. He suggested in vitro insemination of Alma's ovum, which could be implanted in the womb of a surrogate mother. The Grobsteins agreed, and Dr. Lopez arranged to have fertile sperm delivered from Nobel Labs Incorporated for impregnation of one of Alma's ova, which he had surgically removed from her. He then implanted fertilized ovum in the uterus of Ms. Alice Wonderful, a healthy 25 year old single woman who was provided to Dr. Lopez be Motherhood Incorporated, a surrogate mother brokering firm. The Grobsteins agreed to the selection of Ms. Wonderful, whom they never met, and they agreed to pay Dr. Lopez his fee of $50,000, and Motherhood, Inc. their fee of $150,000, which included all legal and medical expenses of carrying the child to term. The Grobsteins agreed to adopt the child at birth, and Motherhood, Inc. agreed to hold the $150,000 in escrow until the adoption was complete.
One month ago the child, Alfred, was born with some serious problems. He is likely to be mildly developmentally disabled as a consequence of an automobile accident that Ms. Wonderful suffered during the eighth month of pregnancy, in which Alfred's skull was partially crushed in utero. The automobile accident was the result of Ms. Wonderful's negligence in going through a red light. In addition, the child is likely to develop mottled, discolored teeth as a consequence of the administration to Ms. Wonderful of tetracycline in the emergency room after the accident. Discolored teeth is a well known consequence of the use of that antibiotic in pregnant women. Finally, the infant suffers from Von Willebrand disease, which is similar to hemophilia, apparently the result of a genetic defect in the biological father. The defect could have been discovered before impregnation, but only through an analysis of the father. That analysis was not undertaken because the sperm, according to Nobel Inc., came from a very healthy, very smart man.
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