Spain's Supreme Court awards 35,000 euros to each spouse after failed vasectomy

What the court decided

Spain's Supreme Court has held that the partner of a man who undergoes a vasectomy can be compensated when doctors fail to tell the couple that the procedure may not work. The court set 35,000 euros for the man and an equal sum for his wife, treating the failure of the operation as affecting both partners in the same way. Its reasoning rests on the view that, in stable couples, a vasectomy is a decision taken within family planning. The ruling was reported on 26 October 2026.

The case and the earlier awards

The operation was carried out in May 2018 at a hospital in Madrid. Some time afterwards the ducts that had been cut reconnected spontaneously, a rare event that the articles put at less than 1% of cases and that defeats the sterilisation. The wife became pregnant shortly after. The couple sought compensation for both of them. The Madrid health department, a Madrid court and the Madrid regional high court accepted that the patient had received insufficient information and compensated him, first with 6,000 euros and then with 12,000 euros. All of them rejected the wife's claim.

Why the wife qualifies

The court separated two things. The right to healthcare information and informed consent belongs exclusively to the patient, as a fundamental right. The consequences of violating that right, however, can reach other people. The Supreme Court found that the wife had suffered them. It described her harm as her own, autonomous and individual, consisting of the loss of her ability to decide about reproduction and to plan her family. The judges held that the missing information stopped both partners from making fully informed choices about family planning and about other contraceptive methods.

First award (earlier courts)6,000

Later award (earlier courts)12,000

Supreme Court award35,000

First award (earlier courts)

6000 euros

Later award (earlier courts)

12000 euros

Supreme Court award

35000 euros

Data from the article text

The amounts

The Supreme Court raised the compensation for the man well above the 12,000 euros set by the lower courts, and extended the same figure to the wife. The ruling was handed down by Section Five of the Contencioso-Administrativo chamber. The articles do not indicate whether the award will be paid by the Madrid health authority or by another party, nor whether further claims are pending.