Mother who never visited her sick child sues father for W50m over son's death

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The child was born with a rare disease. Tuberous sclerosis complex — a name unfamiliar to most — is a genetic disorder in which the body cannot suppress tumor growth. Tumors develop across multiple organs, including the brain, heart and skin. Brain damage brings intellectual disabilities and cerebral lesions. Daily life becomes a struggle. Life expectancy is no more than 28 to 33 years.

The parents divorced when the child was still an infant, and the father raised him alone. When the child reached his 20s, a brain tumor began to grow. The father chose medication over surgery. In February 2024, the child died at 25.

The mother had not seen the child even once since the divorce. Yet she filed a lawsuit seeking 50 million won ($35,000) in damages against the father. She argued that the child died because the father had chosen not to operate.

During the trial, she went so far as to claim the father had committed murder.

Father chose medication over surgery, citing financial and emotional burden

The brain tumor was first detected in October 2019. Doctors told the father, identified only as B, that the tumor was clearly growing and that the child's condition could worsen — with rising intracranial pressure among the risks — if left untreated. B did not make an immediate decision on surgery. An investigation found he had psychological and financial reservations about putting the child under general anesthesia.

While B waited for help from the hospital's social work team, the child's condition deteriorated. In November 2021, the child lost his sight due to elevated intracranial pressure. Doctors said there was a significant chance vision would not return even with surgery, and that without removal of the brain tumor, the child could die from recurring seizures.

As the seizures continued, B decided to proceed with surgery. But further tests led doctors to say the operation was not expected to improve the child's condition and would offer no therapeutic benefit beyond prolonging life. They also disclosed that while the risk of death from the surgery itself was about 5 percent, the likelihood of unforeseen complications was as high as 80 percent.

Ultimately, B decided against the operation. Financial constraints played a role, as did concern that the child's condition could worsen after surgery, as doctors had warned. He opted instead for conservative treatment with medication. The child was admitted to a long-term care hospital, showed some improvement for a time, and died two years later.

Mother claims father 'committed murder' by forgoing surgery

After the child's death, the mother, identified only as A, reviewed excerpts from the medical records. Based on what she read, she filed a damages lawsuit against B in August 2024.

A argued that B had initially agreed to surgery after being told the child could die without it, then reversed course — abandoning his duty as a guardian to protect the child's life through continued treatment.

She further claimed B had committed murder by omission under criminal law — deliberately failing to do what he was obligated to do — and demanded 50 million won in compensation.

Court dismisses suit, faults mother's conduct instead

The court rejected A's claims. Judge Jang Seong-sin of the Suwon District Court's Civil Division 22 dismissed the suit on June 8 in the first-instance ruling, finding insufficient grounds to conclude that B had killed the child by omission.

The court noted that B had made repeated hospital visits to consult with attending physicians across multiple specialties — including ophthalmology, neurosurgery and otolaryngology — and had worked to secure appropriate care for the child.

The court also said B had not refused brain surgery from the outset. Because tuberous sclerosis complex is a genetic condition that does not improve, surgery would have offered no therapeutic benefit beyond prolonging life, and even that extension would have been limited — factors the court said led B to decide against the operation after prolonged deliberation.

The court added that, according to a medical expert, the median age of death for patients with tuberous sclerosis complex is no more than 28 to 33 years, making it difficult to conclude that surgery would have prevented the child's death or meaningfully extended his life.

The court also cited expert testimony presented during the trial that, even had surgery been performed in November 2021, the child's three-year survival rate would have been approximately 75 percent.

The court then turned its attention to A's own conduct.

It noted that B had raised the child — who was born with a congenital disability — alone for about 25 years, while A had not visited the child even once from the time of the divorce until his death.

The court said A had no knowledge of what symptoms and hardships the child had endured from tuberous sclerosis complex and its complications, how serious the condition had been, what the survival odds from surgery would have been, what the child's own wishes were, or what consultations B had gone through over the years before deciding against surgical treatment.

The ruling was finalized on July 7, after A chose not to appeal.

notstrong@heraldcorp.com