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Divorced woman blames doctors for pregnancy

Thursday 03 December 1992 19:02 EST
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A woman whose husband divorced her because she was having another man's baby has blamed doctors for failing to warn her that her sterilisation operation might not work.

Patricia Martin yesterday told the High Court in London she would never have made love to the other man - at least, not without taking precautions - if doctors had warned her. She had hoped to save her marriage, but her husband would 'not accept another man's child'.

Mrs Martin, 38, of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was giving evidence at a preliminary hearing to decide whether she can claim compensation from Huntingdon Health Authority. She is seeking damages for the trauma of the unwanted pregnancy in the midst of the break-up of her marriage, the cost of bringing up her daughter - now seven - and loss of earnings after the pregnancy cost her her job.

The authority says her claim is 'time barred' because her writ was not issued until October 1988, more than three years after she discovered she was pregnant. The hearing was adjourned.

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