Five Things You May Not Know About Fertility and Tort Law

  • March 05, 2019
  • Daniela M. Pacheco, Member-at-Large

The relationship between fertility, assisted reproduction, and tort law is evolving at a rapid pace in Canada. As case law forges ahead to deal with new and emerging issues, let’s take a moment and take stock of what we already know.

  1. Compared to other injuries, a loss of a woman’s fertility can be treated as a very significant loss by Canadian Courts in certain circumstances.  Although general damages for a loss of a women’s fertility is assessed on a case by case basis, many Courts have recognized the near catastrophic effect a loss of fertility may have on a Plaintiff, quite aside from any other pain and suffering caused by a tortfeasor’s actions.  A good example of a Court’s perspective of this loss may be seen in the following quote from the case of Kelly v. Lundgard, [1996] A.J. No. 672: