Wrongful Birth Lawyers in the United States (2026)
When prenatal information is missing, wrongful birth claims may follow. Here's where to start, what a lawyer may review and why your state's rules matter.
Of the 518 firms on our 91 city lists in the United States, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. scores highest on malpractice focus, published results, client reviews and experience, followed by Hastings Law Firm and The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. Each firm keeps its best score from the cities it serves; open a city for its full list.
Best Wrongful Birth Lawyers in the United States
Feature your firm first on this page
This spot goes to one firm for a year. It's shown first, above everyone below, and labeled Featured.
4.8181 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 181 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and hospital negligence
In its published cases, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. describes oxygen deprivation during delivery and Erb’s palsy; it also publishes verdicts involving deaths after hospital care.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.6102 Google reviewsRated 4.6 out of 5 on Google from 102 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
Among Hastings Law Firm's published results are a $19,750,000 failure-to-diagnose settlement and a $10,700,000 negligent-prescribing jury verdict. Because it focuses on malpractice and publishes those results, it tops this list.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
5.0216 Google reviewsRated 5.0 out of 5 on Google from 216 reviews
Best for: Delayed diagnosis and anesthesia injuries
An alleged delayed diagnosis of HSV encephalitis is behind the $11.65 million result published by The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. For negligent anesthesia care, it reports another result of $8 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.724 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 24 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
A $12 million misdiagnosis result stands out among the cases published by The Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, LLC. For negligent surgery, it lists a $7.9 million result; for breast cancer misdiagnosis, it lists $7.1 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.7226 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 226 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and delayed diagnosis
Among Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law's listed results are $8.4 million for brain injury after a delayed diagnosis and $7 million for birth trauma causing brain damage.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
Wrongful birth lawyers by state
The rules change from one state to the next, so the lawyers near you are the ones to call.
If negligent prenatal testing or counseling kept parents from learning about a serious condition before their child was born, a wrongful birth claim asks why. What they knew matters. Rather than focusing on the child's disability itself, the claim asks what the parents should have been told. Whether a claim is available turns on your state's law and what care you received. Ask a lawyer in your state how those rules apply to you.
It's a harsh-sounding name. Even when you love your child, you can still want answers about what you were told during pregnancy. When someone reviews the prenatal record, they look at the care you received and the decisions you faced without all the information.
What wrongful birth means
MedPro's discussion of wrongful birth allegations describes claims brought by parents after a child is born with significant congenital defects or disabilities, against a healthcare provider. If it's congenital, it's present at birth. Before the child was born, what should the provider have told the parents? That's the legal question.
Having a diagnosis doesn't, by itself, establish negligence. To review a claim, someone must link an alleged prenatal care failure to information the parents didn't receive and then to legally recognized harm. Even when a diagnosis is unexpected, the provider may not have been able to identify the condition earlier.
Look first at prenatal testing and counseling. When you ask what information was available during pregnancy, also ask when you received it (if you received it at all). What's in the chart may differ from what everyone learned after birth, and a lawyer needs to separate them.
Choose a specific gap to start. If you don't remember getting a result, or the explanation conflicts with the report, that may be the gap. Maybe the notes don't address a concern you raised. Although those gaps deserve a closer look, they don't prove malpractice.
When you check a prenatal report's date, compare it with when you remember discussing it.
If you remember the provider's actual words, use them when writing down what they explained.
If a result or counseling note still isn't clear, flag it.
When listing prenatal care questions, keep them separate from questions about what happened during delivery.
See Prenatal Testing Errors if your concern is about the testing itself. If your question is about what a provider explained before you decided, you may find help putting it into words on the Informed Consent page.
When a diagnosis after birth is unexpected, a family may look back at prenatal care. Whether someone made a preventable error isn't something the diagnosis alone can tell you. To understand the condition and what it means for your child's care, ask the treating clinician to explain. For the earlier records, ask a lawyer to assess them.
You won't find a medical symptom checklist here. Neither MedPro's discussion nor the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article establishes a checklist for wrongful birth. Rather than looking for a symptom that proves a legal claim, look for gaps in the testing information or counseling.
What separates malpractice from a bad outcome
When reviewing the standard of care, the lawyer must ask what care the provider was required to give in those circumstances. Then there's the separate question of causation. What information did parents receive, and how did the alleged failure affect that information and their decisions? Any harm the lawyer identifies must also be something the applicable law recognizes.
Don't combine those questions. Even with a serious diagnosis, you haven't established that the prenatal care fell below the required standard. If an explanation was missing, you still need to know whether the law allows a claim on that basis.
Standard of care: What should the provider have done, considering the information they had at the time?
Causation: Because of the alleged error, what didn't the parents learn? What decisions did that information affect?
Harm: Of the losses the parents can document, which does the law in their state recognize?
When describing what you remember, be honest about anything you're unsure of. Say so if a conversation doesn't come to mind. If a later report differs from what you remember hearing, describe the difference without turning your concern into a definite accusation.
Which type of claim fits your concern?
Your first conversation with a lawyer depends partly on when the alleged error happened. If prenatal information was missing, describe that directly. Rather than using wrongful birth as a catchall label, explain what happened during labor or delivery if that's the care you're concerned about.
For related areas, see the Birth Injury and Obstetrical Malpractice pages. See Misdiagnosis & Delayed Diagnosis if you think someone overlooked a diagnosis. Although these links can help organize your questions, leave it to a lawyer to determine the legal basis for a claim.
If your concern is about prenatal information on Down syndrome, the Down Syndrome Misdiagnosis page addresses that topic. A provider's negligence isn't established simply because the child has that diagnosis.
State law and filing deadlines
Each state sets its deadlines. After starting with the state pages, ask a lawyer in the relevant state which statute of limitations applies to what happened to you. Other filing requirements are worth asking about, too. This page doesn't give a nationwide deadline.
Before going further, find out whether the state allows the claim. According to Gonzalez & Cartwright's wrongful birth page, Florida permits wrongful birth lawsuits. Whether another state allows one, or whether a particular Florida family's facts support one, isn't established by that statement.
You're reading general information here, not legal advice. Which claims you can bring and how filing rules apply to you depend on state law. To assess those questions, a lawyer in your state can look at the actual dates along with the records.
What to do next
Prepare for a case review
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Write a short account
When explaining what prenatal information you believe was missing, include when you first learned of the condition. If someone told you something later, distinguish that from what you remember yourself.
2
Gather the records you have
When gathering prenatal reports and counseling notes, include messages about results. Don't discard the original files. If you've requested records but haven't received them yet, tell the lawyer which ones you're waiting for.
3
Record the unanswered questions
For each concern, identify the report or conversation behind it. Rather than saying the entire pregnancy was mishandled, ask whether a particular result was explained; that gives the lawyer more to work with.
4
Ask a state lawyer to assess the claim
Before asking about records, ask whether a claim is available and which filing deadline applies. To assess the alleged failure and its effect on your decisions, which other records does the lawyer need?
If you want the lawyer to review expenses, keep their records. You can't necessarily recover every expense. Before discussing what a claim might be worth, find out which losses state law may recognize and which documents the lawyer needs to review them.
Questions for the first lawyer conversation
If we didn't receive prenatal information, does this state allow a claim for that?
When reviewing a provider's conduct, whose should you consider, using which part of the chart?
Given these facts, which filing deadline applies?
To connect the alleged error to our decisions, what do you need?
Before we proceed, what are your fees, including how you'd handle the costs of reviewing the case?
After the first review, some questions may still be unanswered. If things are held up, ask whether a record is missing or there's a legal obstacle. Because those call for different next steps, have the lawyer explain what's getting in the way of a clearer answer.
Is cerebral palsy a birth injury or a wrongful birth claim?
You can't determine the type of legal claim from the diagnosis alone. When reviewing wrongful birth, a lawyer looks at information parents didn't receive through prenatal testing or counseling. Start with the Birth Injury page if your concern is about care during labor or delivery. Before deciding whether any legal framework applies, the lawyer needs to examine the medical records and the specific error you're alleging; the diagnosis doesn't settle that question.
What is the Birth Injury Center, and is it the same as a wrongful birth lawyer?
If you're asking about an organization called the Birth Injury Center, this page doesn't identify or evaluate it. Who would handle your case isn't something a website's name tells you. Before going further with a service, ask whether you're talking to a law firm and who would review the prenatal records. Does that lawyer handle wrongful birth claims in your state? Find out before proceeding. Before you agree to representation, discuss the fees.
What is the average payout for a medical malpractice lawsuit?
For either medical malpractice generally or wrongful birth claims, you won't find an established average payout in MedPro's discussion or the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article. Even with an average, you wouldn't know whether your state allows the claim or recognizes your losses. Before considering a valuation, ask a lawyer which legal basis and records support it. What a claim might be worth doesn't promise a recovery.
What are the three most common birth defects?
You won't find a supported ranking of birth defects in MedPro's discussion or the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article. Instead, when reviewing wrongful birth, a lawyer asks what information about your child's condition should have been available during pregnancy. To understand the diagnosis, ask the treating clinician. Whether the prenatal testing or counseling raises a legal concern depends on your state's rules, and a lawyer can assess that.
What is the deadliest birth defect?
You won't find the deadliest birth defect identified in MedPro's discussion or the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology article. An unsupported ranking isn't something this page offers. For your child's prognosis, ask the treating clinician. When reviewing the care, a lawyer asks whether it was negligent and what parents should have been told before birth. Whether state law recognizes a claim from that care is also part of the review.
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