The couple are now seeking a meeting with the Health Minister.
A couple whose healthy pregnancy was terminated after they were wrongfully told their baby had a fatal foetal abnormality has settled their High Court actions.
Rebecca Price and Patrick Kiely say they are now seeking an urgent meeting with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to ensure this type of incident “never happens again.”
In February 2019, Price was 12 weeks pregnant when a blood test came back positive for genetic disorder trisomy 18, or Edward’s Syndrome, which is classified as a fatal foetal abnormality.
A further rapid result PCR test carried out in a Glasgow laboratory also came back positive for the condition.
The couple terminated the pregnancy on advice of their consultant, Professor Fionnuala MacAuliffe, in March 2019. They said they had made it “absolutely clear” to her that they would only follow her advice if their baby had no chance of survival.
Following the termination, the results of a full cell culture test showed the baby had no fatal foetal abnormalities, and was perfectly healthy.
The defendants, which included five medical consultants from the Merrion Fetal Health Clinic, the National Maternity Hospital and a Glasgow laboratory, admitted full liability.
In a statement outside of court yesterday, the couple said the settlement meant they are at “the beginning of the end of a harrowing cruel and tortuous journey.”
The statement added that nothing would take away the “interminable sadness and grief” of the couple but that the voice of their unborn son, whom they named Christopher Joseph Kiely, has “finally been heard.”
