the negligent failure of the attending physician to discover and inform them of the existence of fetal defects." The plaintiffs could recover for any medical expenses caused by the defendant's negligence as well as for the physical pain of the wife, loss of consortium and mental and emotional suffering. Similar causes of action Wrongful life Wrongful life is a legal cause of action in which a congenitally-diseased child sues the doctor, claiming that but for the negligence of the doctor, the child would not have been born into a life of pain and suffering. The child claims he or she would have been better off never having been born than having been born with a congenital disease. Unlike wrongful birth causes of action, most states do not recognize the wrongful life cause of action. Some courts have reasoned that wrongful life claims call for the court to answer a metaphysical question better left to philosophers: whether it is better never to be born than to be born with a congenital disease. However, some courts, starting with California, have recognized the wrongful life claim. The California Court of Appeal held in 1980 that "a reverent appreciation of life compels recognition that [a wrongful life] plaintiff, however impaired she may be, has come into existence as a living person with certain rights" – i.e. the right to recover against a doctor whose negligence resulted in her disease. In 1982, the Supreme Court of California largely endorsed and adopted the Court of Appeal's holding in a different case but limited the child's recovery to special damages. Wrongful conception In a wrongful conception case, the plaintiffs claim that their doctor negligently performed a vasectomy, tubal ligation, or other sterilization procedure, resulting in an unwanted pregnancy or birth. The resulting child is usually healthy, though unwanted. In 2003, the Indiana Supreme Court recognized the medical malpractice tort of "wrongful pregnancy" when a woman became pregnant after a failed sterilization procedure. The court decided that the damages may include the cost of the pregnancy but may not include the ordinary cost of raising the child, as the benefits of rearing the child could not be calculated. Wrongful adoption In a wrongful adoption case, the plaintiffs are adoptive parents of an unhealthy child, who claims that the adoption agency failed to disclose facts necessary for the plaintiffs to make an informed decision about what child to adopt,