SC Supreme Court issues personal jurisdiction opinion

In Coggeshall v. Reproductive Fertility Clinics, the plaintiff underwent in vitro fertilization in a North Carolina clinic and then brought suit when the baby was born with Downs Syndrome. The trial court dismissed because of lack of personal jurisdiction and the Supreme Court affirmed. The Court held there were insufficient contacts with South Carolina to permit the exercise of personal jurisdiction. In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice Toal found that there was personal jurisdiction, but argued that plaintiff's were essentially seeking damages directly resulting from their child being born--a claim for wrongful life, which is not permitted in South Carolina.