Injured woman could not bear children: Court awards her “Surrogacy” Fees
In the recent case of Wilhelmson v Dumma, the BC Supreme Court awarded “surrogacy fees” to a woman who was injured in a car accident. In other words, the Court allowed the plaintiff (the legal name for injured party) the future costs of paying another woman to bear her children.
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The background of the case was as follows: On August 11, 2011, a car driving in excess of 150 km per hour crashed into an oncoming vehicle. This happened on Highway 10 in Surrey, BC. The driver of the speeding car was driving on the wrong side of the road. The car that was hit had 4 people in it. Three of the four (4) people were, unfortunately, deceased as a result of the accident. The sole survivor was Mikaela Wilhelmson, a 21 year old young woman.
Ms. Wilhelmson incurred a number of serious injuries. One of the serious injuries rendered her unable to carry any future children for pregnancy. However, she would be able to use a surrogate mother using her own eggs if she wished. The judge made note of this, and gave her a special award to compensate for this loss. Specifically, the judge ordered ICBC to cover the costs of any future use of a surrogate mother. The amount awarded by the judge was $100,000 to cover these future costs.
This case is a good example of how our Courts can be creative in helping people try and put their lives back together after an accident. There is a basic principle in personal injury law which holds that the defendant (ICBC, or person being sued) has an obligation to, as much as possible, restore an injured person back to their original state with financial compensation. While money could never restore this young woman’s physical health, here, the Court did its’ best to try and make sure she could still have some of the benefits she lost as a result of her injuries, namely, the ability to have a child.
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