The wrongful birth principles from Cattanach v Melchior apply to IVF procedures where more embryos are transferred than requested, not only to failed sterilisation cases. The duty of care extends to complying with the patient's wishes as to the number of embryos to be transferred. A plaintiff's failure to abort, undergo embryo reduction, or adopt out one of twins does not constitute a failure to mitigate or break the chain of causation where the decision involves choosing between twins. The cost of raising an additional child is recoverable but does not extend to tertiary education costs. The system of communication between doctor and fertility centre is critical to assessing breach of duty in IVF procedures.
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