UK woman wins claim for NHS to pay US surrogacy costs News
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UK woman wins claim for NHS to pay US surrogacy costs

The UK Supreme Court on Wednesday awarded damages to a woman for surrogacy costs after she was left infertile when the Whittington Hospital National Health Service (NHS) trust failed to detect signs of cervical cancer.

The woman had tests and underwent biopsies in 2008 and 2012, all of which were wrongly reported as showing negative for cancer. The error was discovered in 2013, when the woman was told that she had cancer and was referred to another hospital. The hospital admitted negligence, noting a 95 percent chance that the woman would have not developed cancer at all had the appropriate action been taken in 2008.

In June 2013, the woman underwent ovarian stimulation and egg collection. Due to surgery and chemotherapy as a result of cervical cancer, her womb was damaged and she could not bear children. Looking to use a surrogate from California, she sought to claim damages to pay for the cost.

The Supreme Court noted that government policy in the UK had moved “in the direction of supporting surrogacy arrangements in appropriate cases.” Lady Hale stated that it was possible to claim damages for the cost of surrogacy arrangements, and it “is no longer contrary to public policy to award damages for the costs of a foreign commercial surrogacy.”

However, in awarding damages to this woman, the court noted that damages will not always be awarded. There are “some important limiting factors” that must be considered: the proposed treatments must be reasonable; it must be reasonable for the claimant to seek foreign commercial arrangements rather than arrangements within the UK; and the costs involved must be reasonable.