Trial Magazine

Jean-Marie Monroe-Lynch and her husband, Aaron Lynch, were unable to conceive. They received therapeutic donor insemination (TDI) services from the University of Connecticut Health Center’s Center for Advanced Reproductive Services, and Jean-Marie became pregnant with twins.

Throughout the pregnancy, Jean-Marie and Aaron were told that their babies were healthy. At 37 weeks’ gestation, however, the couple learned that their daughter had died in-utero. The remaining twin, a boy, was then delivered via emergency cesarean section. Now 6, he suffers from catastrophic neurological and developmental disabilities. Both children and Jean-Marie tested positive for cytomegalovirus (CMV).

Jean-Marie and Aaron, individually and on behalf of their son and their daughter’s estate, sued the state of Connecticut, alleging negligent fertility treatment. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to properly inform Jean-Marie and obtain her consent regarding the risks associated with a CMV infection while participating in the TDI process. The plaintiffs asserted the defendant’s agents inseminated Jean-Marie with sperm from a CMV-positive donor in violation of medical and industry guidelines, as well as the defendant’s protocols.

Suit also alleged negligent prenatal care because the defendant failed to follow up on an ultrasound taken at 22 weeks’ gestation showing a hyperechoic bowel, an abnormality that can be a marker for CMV. A simple blood test would have revealed that the hyperechoic bowel was caused by congenital CMV, the plaintiffs claimed.

The court awarded $37.6 million.

Citation: Monroe-Lynch v. State, No. HHDCV166067438 (Conn. Super. Ct. Hartford Jud. Dist. June 28, 2021).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Michael Walsh, Karolina Dowd, and Caitlyn Malcynsky, all of West Hartford, Conn.

Plaintiff experts: Danny Schust, infertility, Columbia, Mo.; Alexander McMeeking, infectious disease, New York, N.Y.; Robert Atlas, maternal fetal medicine, Baltimore; Gary Crakes, economics, Cheshire, Conn.; Lauren Siegel, life care planning, Westfield, N.J.; and Traci Fox, radiology, Philadelphia.

Defense experts: Jacqueline Guttman, infertility, and Samuel Parry, maternal fetal medicine, both of Philadelphia; Mark Schleiss, pediatric infectious disease, Minneapolis; Jaime Shamonki, sperm banks, Los Angeles; and David Feidal, FDA, Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.