## Facts

- Heather L. Seslar, who had four children, underwent a sterilization procedure in 1998 performed by Dr. Kenneth R. Chaffee to prevent future pregnancy.
- The procedure was unsuccessful; Seslar later conceived and delivered a healthy child.
- Seslar filed a medical malpractice action alleging negligent performance of the sterilization and sought damages including pregnancy and childbirth expenses and the future costs of raising and educating the child.
- Before the medical review panel completed its review, Dr. Chaffee requested a preliminary legal determination to bar child-rearing damages as a matter of law.
- The trial court denied the request and allowed Seslar to pursue child-rearing and education expenses; the Court of Appeals affirmed on interlocutory appeal.

## Issues

1. In a medical malpractice action for negligent sterilization resulting in the birth of a healthy child, are the ordinary costs of raising and educating the child recoverable damages?
2. If child-rearing costs are unavailable, what categories of damages remain recoverable for wrongful pregnancy based on medical negligence?

## Decision

- The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer, vacating the Court of Appeals’ decision.
- The court held that parents may recover damages for pregnancy and childbearing expenses resulting from negligent sterilization.
- The court held that parents may not recover ordinary child-rearing or education expenses for a healthy child.
- The court rejected imposing a duty on the plaintiff to mitigate damages through abortion or adoption.
- The case was remanded for further proceedings consistent with limiting damages to pregnancy and childbirth-related losses.

## Legal Principles

- Wrongful pregnancy following negligent sterilization is treated as an ordinary medical malpractice claim requiring duty, breach, causation, and compensable injury.
- For a healthy child, compensable damages are limited to the direct consequences of pregnancy and childbirth (e.g., medical expenses and related economic losses) and exclude the ordinary costs of raising and educating the child.
- Although pregnancy and childbirth are foreseeable consequences of negligent sterilization, public policy limits tort recovery to avoid characterizing the birth of a healthy child as a compensable injury and to avoid speculative, difficult-to-administer child-rearing awards.
- A plaintiff has no legal obligation to mitigate damages in this context by choosing abortion or adoption because such choices are not “reasonable or ordinary” mitigation measures.

## Conclusion

The Indiana Supreme Court recognized a wrongful-pregnancy malpractice claim for negligent sterilization but drew a categorical boundary on damages: plaintiffs may recover pregnancy and childbirth-related losses, not the ordinary expenses of raising and educating a healthy child, and they need not mitigate by abortion or adoption.


Chaffee v. Seslar, 786 N.E.2d 705 (Ind. 2003)