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 Hawaii, the concepts of 'wrongful life' and 'wrongful birth' are not explicitly recognized by statute. Wrongful life claims, where a child sues on the basis of being born with disabilities that could have been disclosed during pregnancy, are generally not supported by the legal framework in Hawaii. Similarly, wrongful birth claims, where parents sue for the birth of a disabled child due to a lack of information about potential genetic conditions or disabilities, are not clearly established in Hawaii's legal system. While some states have statutes or case law that address these issues, Hawaii has not developed a robust body of law in this area. As such, claims of this nature would face significant legal challenges in Hawaii, and the success of such claims would be uncertain without explicit recognition or precedent in state law.