The Sydney parents of two disabled young boys have appeared in court, suing a fertility clinic over incorrect genetic testing.
Prior to having children, Leighee Eastbury was tested for a hereditary genetic condition which her uncle suffered from.
Due to the condition, her 40-year-old family member was so intellectually impaired he had the mental age of a 10-year-old.
Though Leighee had no symptoms she wanted to be sure she wasn’t a carrier. Her worries were put to rest after the test results came back negative.
However, when her first child, Hayden, with husband, Philip, started missing development milestones, the family did further testing and found out Leighee is, in fact, a carrier of the Fragile X syndrome and that her initial results were wrong.
“I was devastated, absolutely devastated,” she recalls.
The pair had already had a second son, Jake, who also inherited the gene from his mum. Both boys are disabled and the family are now seeking compensation to help raise them.
“The joys of having a typically developing kid versus one with a disability, you can’t put a figure to that,” Mr Eastbury said outside the Supreme Court, as reported by Nine News.
“All I know is we love our boys, and we’re missing out on a lot of things a typical family would.’”
Ms Eastbury told the court the boys would have the disabilities all their lives.
“They will never be able to ride a bike or drive a car,” she said.
“They will never be able to live on their own and will always need someone to care for them.”
The case has now been settled for an undisclosed amount.
