A 20-year-old showjumping superstar from the U.K. has filed a lawsuit against her mother's doctor because she believes he's liable for her wrongful conception and should not have been born because of her condition.
Evie Toombes suffers from spina bifida, a birth defect impacting the spine and the spinal cord development. She claimed that Dr. Philip Mitchell, her mother's general practitioner, failed to give vital medical advice like taking folic acid before her mother's pregnancy to reduce the risks of spina bifida.
The young woman's attorney Susan Rodway QC told the court that the showjumper has a claim against being "born in a damaged state." She also wants Mitchel to cover her expenses as someone who lives with a disability.
Benefits of Folic Acid
Court documents showed that Caroline Toombes, the showjumper's mother, consulted with Mitchell about getting pregnant with her first child almost two decades ago. Caroline was eager to start a family because she was an orphan at quite a young age.
However, she and her husband have been trying not to have any intercourse until Mitchell assessed them. Caroline said that the doctor never talked to her about the importance of folic acid during their consultations.
Evie believes that had her mother known that folic acid would help prevent spina bifida, Caroline would have pushed back her plans to start a family and take folic acid treatments to avoid a wrongful conception. The equestrienne said that she would not have been born if her mother had paused her pregnancy. Instead, her parents were able to conceive quickly and got a "genetically different person."
Like a baby with a defective spine, Evie had growth gaps and limited mobility. She has also been confined to a wheelchair and needs tubes to nourish her most days. Her disability will still worsen as she ages.
Mitchell's lawyers, however, challenged the claims and said that Caroline was given reasonable medical advice during her pregnancy. Across the world, it's standard practice for doctors to tell potential mothers about the advantages of folic supplements combined with a good diet, especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
In the U.S., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that women of reproductive age who plan on having kids should have a diet of food rich in folic acid or start taking supplements every day. The daily requirement for folic acid is 400 micrograms (mcg).
Evie's Complex Medical Needs
Despite her disability, Evie has competed in various Paralympics events and was honored as an Inspirational Young Person at the 2018 WellChild Awards by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Evie was due to get an ileostomy surgery in March 2020 to help with her feeding, but the procedure had to be put off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Caroline said that her daughter's body weight has been dropping dangerously low as she waits for her next surgery schedule. She has been in and out of the hospital for other treatments, but her case is considered "very high risk" because of her complex medical needs.
