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 Oregon, the concepts of 'wrongful life' and 'wrongful birth' are addressed in the legal context. Oregon does not recognize 'wrongful life' claims, which means that a child, through a legal guardian, cannot sue a medical professional for being born with disabilities due to the medical professional's failure to inform the parents of the child's condition during pregnancy. However, Oregon does recognize 'wrongful birth' claims. This allows parents to bring a lawsuit against a medical professional for medical malpractice if the professional failed to properly inform them of the risk of having a child with genetic or congenital abnormalities. In such cases, the parents argue that they would have chosen not to conceive or to terminate the pregnancy had they been fully informed of the risks. These claims are based on the premise that the medical professional's negligence deprived the parents of making an informed decision regarding the pregnancy.