Mother Loses Arizona "Unwanted Baby" Case

Phoenix -- Ruth Ann Burns, who wanted doctors to pay her $180,000 to raise
her "unwanted" 2-year-old son, didn't get a dime from a nine-member jury
today.

It took the seven men and two women on the panel only 25 minutes to say no
to Burns, who has been criticized on local and national talk shows for
putting a price tag on her 2-year-old son, Nicholas.

Burns has been stoic throughout the two-week trial. Today, as the jury
filed into the courtroom, she clutched the hand of her boyfriend, David
Gomez. He is the father of Nicholas, and one of Burns' other children.
Seconds later, tears welled up in her eyes as the court clerk read the few
words that ended the controversial trial.

The jury ''finds in favor of the defendants.''

Waves of relief washed over Dr. Leroy Kareus, Burn's family doctor, and
Dr. David Kaufman, her obstetrician, as the jury found that they were not
guilty of malpractice and should not be held liable for Nicholas' care.

Burns had contended that the doctors missed her 6-week-old pregnancy in
spring 1997, and when it was confirmed in June, she thought it was too
late for her to get a second-trimester abortion. However, defense
attorneys argued that Burns, who had a second trimester abortion in 1995,
knew how to obtain one.

''This was difficult,'' Kareus said after the verdict. ''Any time you are
involved in litigation is a difficult time. I'd like to put this behind me
and go back to take care of my patients, which is what I do best.''

Kaufman also said he wanted to go back to caring for his patients, and
questioned Burns' motive. ''To say I feel this case was somewhat misguided
is something of an understatement,'' he said.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward O. Burke instructed the jury
this morning to find in favor of Burns only if the evidence convinced them
that the two doctors had been guilty of malpractice.

Gomez was a party to the suit, although he was not asking for money. He
and Burns refused to talk to the press. But David Hume, their lawyer, said
the trial was a legitimate effort to force the doctors to pay for
Nicholas' care. They have not decided whether to appeal.

Hume said he isn't sure why the verdict went against Burns because the
jury hadn't talked to him today. Jurors refused to speak to The Arizona
Republic after the trial and would not comment when reached later by
phone.

Winn Sammons, Kareus' attorney, said that despite the speedy verdict, he
belives the jury did not make a snap decision. ''I think the fact that
they came back as quickly as they did was intended to send a message that
under these circumstances they did not consider this a close call.''

Sammons also said after the verdict that Burns and Gomez should be
grateful that they have a healthy son. The jurors, he said, believed the
plaintiffs ''were not damaged. The plaintiffs should go on and consider
themselves blessed and go on in their relationship with that child.''

Although Burns had had two abortions in 1995 and one in 1993, Hume told
the jury to judge her objectively. ''Only the Almighty can decide on the
morality of those earlier abortions,'' he said.

He told the jury that Kareus ''didn't lift a finger'' to refer Burns for
an abortion. But Sammons said it is clear from her previous abortions that
Burns knew how to make her own arrangements.

Sammons also told the jury that they could not put a price tag on
Nicholas' ''hug or a smile.''

''Our children are precious and priceless,'' Sammons said. ''And we are
not going to run a balance sheet on them.'' In earlier testimony, Gomez
said the smiles and laughs aren't worth his 80-hour workweek to pay for
the boy's care.

The case stirred a group of parents and legislators to rally against her
at the state Capitol today. Emotions kicked into overdrive in midweek,
when her live-in boyfriend, David Gomez, told the court that Nicholas is
"a lifelong mistake."

Gomez said he paid for three abortions for Burns, a fact not lost on
Arizona pro-life leaders. The couple have one other child together.

Then there's concern about the boy's future.

"Nicholas may always question his parents' love, and this may affect his
ability to trust others and form relationships, since a child's first
relationships are with his parents," said Linda Caterino, a Mesa child
psychologist. "He may also suffer from low self-esteem."

Miguel Arciniega, a professor of counseling psychology at ASU, recommends
the family get therapy. "They'd better know how to deal with him, or he'll
be traumatized for the rest of his life," Arciniega said.

The case also strikes a nerve with couples trying to have children.

"I would love a one-on-one with these people," said Amy Natter, 39. She
has a 5-year-old son and is now nine weeks pregnant via in vitro
fertilization - at an out-of-pocket cost of more than $9,000 to her and
her husband, Bill.

Besides the financial burden, the emotional price is steep. "It's very
draining," said Stacey Burns, 30, who is not related to Ruth Ann Burns.
She has spent the past three years trying to become pregnant and now is
considering adoption. "You go through a lot of wondering why. You've got
to have a strong marriage to go through this."

Adoption discover also is expensive: $10,000 to $30,000 for a child from
another country and up to $15,000 for an American.

"It gets me so upset, I can't even compose myself," Stacey Burns said of
the trial.

Single parents, for whom parenting can tax emotional and financial
reserves, also have had trouble understanding the view of Nicholas'
parents.

Larry Diffie, 48, of Phoenix, has a 9-year-old daughter who was
unexpected. He and his former wife had been told they wouldn't be able to
have children of their own. But unexpected is not the same as unwanted.
"You accept the responsibility," Diffie says. "You do the things that come
with the job (of parenting). You find a way to make it work."

--
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