Woman sues GP for son she didn't want

The woman claims that on three occassions her GP and local hospital ignored signs that she was still pregnant. Photo / Getty

A young mother is suing her GP and the Australian public health system for hundreds of thousands of dollars after a failed termination which lead to her giving birth to a son.

After learning she was pregnant in 2013, the 23-year-old woman from rural Victoria in Australia asked her GP for a termination.

Despite undergoing a procedure, the woman was eventually deemed still pregnant and gave birth to her son, "Cooper" in April the following year, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The mother, who can't be named, claims that on three occassions her GP and the hospital ignored signs that she was in fact still pregnant.

She says she was admitted to her local hospital for a termination two and a half weeks after her doctor confirmed her pregnancy.

But a pathology sample taken during the procedure showed no signs of a pregnancy.

A month later, she returned to her GP with complaints of tenderness and a prickly sensation in her lower abdomen.

While her doctor reffered her for a blood test, she did not undertake an ultrasound. When she returned to her GP three days later, telling them she was still "feeling a bit sick", results from her blood test showed elevated levels of a hormone produced by an embryo.

The woman is now arguing that based on her history and symptoms, she should have had an ultrasound to establish that her pregnancy had been properly terminated. She claims that her GP and the hospital were negligent and in breach of their duty of care for failing to refer her for an ultrasound.

In December, she had further blood tests which again showed high levels of the embryo-produced hormone. Five days on, an ultrasound confirmed she was 20 weeks pregnant.

The woman is now suing the GP and hospital to pay for the costs of raising a child, an amount which, while undisclosed would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On top of this, she is seeking financial compensation for the pain and psychological trauma the ordeal has caused her.