Wrongful life refers to a claim or cause of action in which a severely disabled child (through the child’s legal guardian) sues the child’s mother’s doctor or hospital for failing to provide the child’s parents with information about the child’s disability during the pregnancy, or about a genetic disposition for the birth defect with which the child was born, causing the child a lifetime of suffering and medical expenses.

In such cases the child argues the parents would have had an abortion or chosen not to get pregnant if they had known of the birth defect or the genetic disposition for it. Most states do not recognize a wrongful life claim, but California, Maine, New Jersey, and Washington do.

Wrongful birth is a similar claim or cause of action that may be brought by the disabled child’s parents in states that recognize such a claim—and about half of the states do. Wrongful birth is a type of medical malpractice claim.

In Montana, the concepts of 'wrongful life' and 'wrongful birth' are not explicitly recognized by statute. Wrongful life claims, where a child born with disabilities sues on the basis that they would not have been born if proper medical advice had been given, are generally not supported in the majority of states, including Montana. Similarly, wrongful birth claims, where parents sue for the birth of a disabled child due to a lack of information about the child's health that would have led to a decision to avoid or terminate the pregnancy, are also not specifically recognized in Montana. While about half of the states allow wrongful birth claims as a form of medical malpractice, Montana has not established a clear precedent for these types of claims. Therefore, in Montana, parents and children facing such circumstances may not have a statutory basis for pursuing wrongful life or wrongful birth lawsuits, and any attempt to bring such a claim would likely face significant legal challenges.