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 Utah, the concepts of 'wrongful life' and 'wrongful birth' are not recognized as valid legal claims. Utah courts have generally followed the majority rule that does not allow for wrongful life claims, which would involve a child suing for being born with disabilities due to alleged medical negligence. Similarly, wrongful birth claims, where parents sue on the basis that they would have avoided conception or terminated a pregnancy if they had been properly informed about the risk of genetic or congenital abnormalities, are also not recognized in Utah. This means that neither the child nor the parents can typically recover damages for the types of claims that assert the child should not have been born or that the parents would have made different reproductive choices had they been provided with certain information. Instead, traditional medical malpractice claims may be available if there is evidence that a healthcare provider failed to meet the appropriate standard of care in advising or treating the parents or the child.