Wrongful birth claim in Japan

Wrongful birth claim is generally defined as a claim by the parents of a child born alive but with a disability that a doctor was negligent in permitting the pregnancy to continue to birth. There have been four cases relating to congenital rubella syndrome and one case relating to Down's syndrome held in Japan. The claims brought by the mothers were that, but for the negligence of the doctor in managing the pregnancy, the mother would have had a lawful abortion and the child would not have been born to suffer a disability. As we do not have the provision of foetal indication for abortion in Japan, wrongful birth claim by parents is founded upon a breach of doctors' duty in advising of the probability of a disabled child. We compare the lawful nature of wrongful birth claims in Japan with those in the United States and the United Kingdom.