( dpa ) - A couple has demanded that an insurance company pay for the woman's fertility treatment after their two sons died in a car accident, news reports said Tuesday.
The case is unprecedented in Singapore.
A lawyer for the company told the Court of Appeals that the couple's attempts to conceive were "doomed from the start."
Man Mohan Singh, 51, and Jasbir Kaur, 48, spent nearly 33,000 Singapore dollars (23,000 US dollars) on medical procedures to conceive after their only children died, The Straits Times said.
Sons Gurjiv Singh, 17, and Pardip Singh, 14, were flung out of a rented car when it crashed into a tree on December 2, 2002.
Dilveer Singh Gill, the driver, fled before he was charged and is still at large.
Ramasamy Chettiar argued that a decision for the couple would pave the way for indefinite liability for car insurers.
"If we allow this, there will be no end," he was quoted as saying.
The pair had gone ahead with the fertility treatment despite their low likelihood of giving birth to another child, he noted.
Kaur, 45 when she underwent in vitro fertilization, had a 1 per cent chance of a successful birth. She became pregnant but lost the foetus.
The couple sued Zurich Insurance, now known as QBE Insurance, for damages arising from the deaths of their only children.
An assistant registrar awarded them a total of 210,000 Singapore dollars (140,000 US dollars). Both sides appealed. The High Court reversed the award for the treatment, leaving the couple with 180,000 Singapore dollars (120,000 US dollars).
Both sides appealed again. The court said Monday it will give its decision at a later date.