Mother of son with Down syndrome sues hospital, would've had abortion
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FOX NEWS - A mother of a 4-year-old son with special needs is suing a British hospital alleging they failed to test for the condition — otherwise she would've had an abortion.
Edyta Mordel, 33, of Reading, wants almost $250,000 in compensation for the cost of raising her son, Aleksander, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome in a case termed "wrongful birth," according to The Mirror.
“Miss Mordel would have been offered an abortion and she and her partner, Aleksander’s father Lukasz Cieciura, agreed they would have terminated the pregnancy,” Mordel's lawyer, Clodagh Bradley QC, told the High Court in London, the outlet reported.
Mordel, who is originally from Poland, said she was given the all-clear at 12 weeks into the pregnancy, believing the test had been carried out.
“I was reassured so many times everything was alright, that the pregnancy was fine,” Mordel said, according to the Daily Mail.
But lawyers for the NHS showed that the sonographer recorded "Down's screening declined" in her medical notes.
And when she gave birth via C-section at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in January 2015, her medical notes recorded Mordel was "very upset and angry" when Aleksander was diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Lawyer Michael de Navarro QC, for the NHS hospital trust, explained that it was relatively common for expectant mothers to decline screenings when they learned the test carried a 2 percent miscarriage risk.
While Mordel insisted she always wanted the screening, NHS guidelines classify asking about the screening at a later appointment, once declined, as "harassment."
The Daily Mail reports that parents have been issued millions in other "wrongful birth" cases, while Mordel's case is still ongoing.
Read more at foxnews.com.