Georgia Supreme Court Pulls Out From Giving Sperm Banks Blanket Immunity

The opinion is a major move toward accountability for sperm banks in just about half of states that ban wrongful birth claims.

Excerpt - There’s major news in the ART world out of Georgia this week. On Monday, September 28, 2020, the Peach State’s Supreme Court released its opinion in Norman v. Xytex. It reverses lower court decisions that had essentially granted blanket immunity to all sperm banks, regardless of any negligence — indeed, even intentional wrongdoing — in failing to screen sperm donors or misrepresenting their personal history. A Georgia trial and appellate court had found that the defendant sperm bank, Xytex, couldn’t be found liable even if it had done all the terrible things the plaintiffs claimed. Wow! Really? Yes. Hence, some pretty incredulous sounding Georgia Supreme Court judges during oral arguments back in May 2020.

Ellen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, and a regular contributor to the ‘Above the Law’ platform.