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 the state of Iowa, the concepts of 'wrongful life' and 'wrongful birth' are distinct legal claims. Wrongful life claims, where a child born with disabilities sues on their own behalf through a guardian, arguing that they would not have been born to suffer if the parents had been properly informed of the disabilities or genetic conditions during pregnancy, are not recognized in Iowa. This means that such a cause of action is not available under Iowa law, and courts in Iowa do not provide a legal remedy for wrongful life claims. On the other hand, wrongful birth claims are recognized in Iowa. Wrongful birth is a type of medical malpractice claim brought by the parents of a disabled child, alleging that due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, such as failing to inform them of the risk of birth defects or genetic disorders, they were deprived of the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether to conceive a child or terminate a pregnancy. Iowa law allows parents to seek damages for the additional costs of raising a child with disabilities due to such medical negligence.