Couple sues over alleged medical malpractice leading to unintended pregnancy

Source: , Posted On:   12 November 2024
  • A couple who already had three kids decided that a vasectomy would be the best option for their family. Four years after the procedure, they found out they were pregnant with their fourth child.

  • The family is now suing the practice that performed the vasectomy for medical malpractice damages, including the cost of raising a child. The concept of “wrongful conception” differs state by state.

  • Experts say that vasectomies aren’t 100% effective. Sperm can even slip through years after the fact due to the tubes regrowing, for example.

 

If you paid for a vasectomy and your wife then ended up pregnant 4 years later, would you sue the practice that performed the procedure for ‘wrongful conception’? One Minnesota couple, the Szlachtowskis, did just that.

It was 2018 when Steven Szlachtowski, then 38, had a vasectomy at Minnesota Urology, the “largest urology specialty group in the upper midwest,” according to its website. After having three kids under the age of five, the Szlachtowskis decided that a vasectomy was the best option for their family. In 2023, however, Steven’s wife, Megan, then 33, found out that she was pregnant—a total surprise given the procedure he had undergone in 2018.