Woman sues for wrongful conception after doctor said she couldn't get pregnant

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WJBK) - It is an unusual civil case out of Oakland County. A woman is suing her doctor for the stress caused by an unplanned pregnancy.

He told her there was no chance she could get pregnant but she did, with a child who has Down syndrome.

The woman is not suing for wrongful birth - she is suing for wrongful conception. She blames her doctor and according to our legal expert - it sounds like she has a case.

Pictures show Lori Cichewicz as a doting loving mother. Reportedly she always planned to give birth but the problem, she never wanted to be pregnant.

"This is really very close to a medical malpractice case," said FOX 2 legal analyst Charlie Langton. "That's really essentially what it is."

In 2008 she went to get a permanent birth control procedure, to get her tubes tied. But her doctor told her that her fallopian tubes were blocked. She had no chance of getting pregnant and she didn't even need birth control.

Three years later Lori got pregnant with a baby who had Down syndrome.

Lori is now suing her doctor for "wrongful conception" - basically his negligence. She is seeking damages for the emotional distress caused by the unplanned pregnancy.

Cichewicz is now 50 years old and raising a special needs child.

According to Langton, the courts have already decided damages are limited to the stress of the conception.

"The stress associated with thinking about of having to be pregnant or being pregnant when she didn't want to be pregnant are the only damages," he said. "It's not the fact she is going to get money for having to raise a Down syndrome child, the court already said no."

The case is expected to go to a jury trial within the next few months - unless the doctor settles it before then.