Grieves

The threshold issue before us is whether petitioners’ first amended complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action for battery. Since the sufficiency of the complaint was tested in the trial court by means of demurrer, we accept as true all of its material factual allegations. (Alcorn v. Anbro Engineering, Inc. (1970) 2 Cal.3d 493, 496 [ 86 Cal.Rptr. 88 , 468 P.2d 216 ].)

On May 1, 1981, while pregnant, petitioner Cheryl Grieves discussed with her physician, Andrew M. Kenlon, M.D. (Kenlon), the possibility of undergoing a surgical procedure known as a tubal ligation following the delivery of her child. On June 26, 1981, they discussed her desire the procedure not be performed if the child was born with any abnormalities. She gave birth to a daughter on September 8, 1981, and thereafter a tubal ligation was performed. Immediately following the surgery she was informed the newborn child had been diagnosed as having a genetic disorder, trisomy 18. Two months later the child died.

Petitioners Cheryl Grieves and her husband filed suit against Kenlon; Martin Luther Hospital (Hospital); Nandi Wijesinghe, M.D. (Wijesinghe), the assistant surgeon; and Leonard…