Couple whose baby was born with Down syndrome wins 21 million TL lawsuit

Faruk (44) and Serpil Gürdal (40), who live in İzmit, applied to a private hospital in the district in 2016 to receive support regarding their pregnancy process when they were expecting their second child.

According to the Gürdal couple's claims, their request for a quadruple screening test was rejected by the doctor, who said, "Don't you trust me? Your baby is perfectly healthy, I am an expert in this field," and deemed it unnecessary.

Entering the 7th month of the pregnancy, Serpil Gürdal went to the hospital with her husband, Faruk Gürdal, because the baby was not moving in her womb.

Following the examination, Serpil Gürdal was taken into surgery, with the claim that the baby was suffering from an intestinal infection.

It was determined that the baby boy, who was born via cesarean section, had Down syndrome after the tests were conducted. Following this, the Gürdal couple took the matter to court and filed a complaint against the doctor and the hospital.

21 MILLION LIRA COMPENSATION

The lawsuit filed at the Kocaeli 1st Consumer Court was concluded after 8 years. The court ruled that 21 million 89 thousand 691 TL in material damages and 200 thousand TL in moral damages be paid to the family.

"OUR TESTS WERE NOT PERFORMED"

Describing the process, Faruk Gürdal said, "God granted us our first child after 8 years, and then we had IVF. Our second child came through natural means, and we were very careful during the pregnancy process. We wanted to go to a private hospital. Actually, our financial situation was not very good; I was unemployed.

People expect special attention at a private hospital. You go every 15 days, they check the neck structure and heartbeat, but none of these were noticed. In the 7th month of the pregnancy, we experienced the mother's nausea and the threat of miscarriage. We learned that the child was not moving at all.

We wanted to have all the tests done, but our tests after the first screening were not performed. Even though we wanted them to be done, they were not.

Our doctor said, 'Don't you trust me? Whatever I tell you is the truth. There is no need, your baby is perfectly healthy.' When we said, 'Doctor, we are experiencing these kinds of problems, won't there be a problem?', he said, 'No, I am an expert in this field. You need to trust me,'" he stated.

"THE LAWSUIT CONCLUDED IN OUR FAVOR AFTER 8 YEARS"

Noting that his wife was taken for delivery in the 8th month of her pregnancy, Gürdal said, "When we asked for the reason, he said she had an intestinal infection and that it had to be taken out as soon as possible because there was a risk of death. Since death was at stake, we accepted it.

One day later, she was taken into surgery and we learned that he had Down syndrome. We didn't know what Down syndrome was. We experienced intense psychological pressure.

We thought a lot about how we would overcome the psychological and financial process. We decided to file a lawsuit with the thought that I wouldn't be a good family member or raise a good child. Thank God, the lawsuit concluded in our favor after 8 years," he said.

"I AM HAPPY TO SET A PRECEDENT"

Stating that a precedent-setting decision was made, Faruk Gürdal said, "The decision was in our favor. We did not determine the amount; we are not after money. 21 million TL was decided in our favor. I am very excited, I am very happy. I am very happy because I will prepare a beautiful future for my child.

I am happy to set a precedent for families in Turkey. I will spend it on my child's education. He is 8 years old now, he is still in diapers. He cannot speak, he walked very late. He started walking at 3.5 years old.

There was a 36-day intensive care process. This process affected us a lot. We couldn't reach our baby for 35 days. His mother had fed him by inserting a tube down his throat. These processes exhausted us a lot. He is my child; I did not file this lawsuit because he has Down syndrome. I filed this lawsuit because it is my child's right," he said.