Robert Robak and Anna Robak, Cross-Appellants v. United States of America, Cross-Appellee

SWYGERT, Senior Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents a question that has never been decided by a federal court of appeals: whether a cause of action exists for wrongful birth. We hold that it does and affirm the judgment of the district court, which awarded damages to the parents of a child born with defects after a doctor had failed to inform the pregnant mother she had rubella. We reverse the judgment of the district court, however, on two issues raised by the parents in a cross-appeal: the calculation of damages and the method of award of attorneys’ fees.

I

In May, 1972, plaintiffs Anna and…