Christoforo v. VA

Ron Christoforo served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange. His daughter Michele was born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism linked to that exposure. Under federal law, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides benefits to children born with dwarfism to mothers who served in Vietnam. Because it was Michele’s father who served, she is ineligible for benefits. 

At a press conference at Yale Law School on April 27, 2026, joined by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Christoforos announced the filing of a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut challenging that distinction as unconstitutional sex discrimination. The Christoforos are represented by Yale Law School’s Veterans Legal Services Clinic.

The law, enacted in 2000, when scientific understanding of toxic inheritance was limited, provides VA education, health care, and disability compensation to children born with certain birth defects only if their mother served in Vietnam. An estimated 350,000 children with birth defects born to male Vietnam veterans have been excluded as a result. Modern research suggests that paternal exposure to Agent Orange can cause genetic damage and birth defects in children. According to the filing, the VA denied Christoforo’s application for a single reason: her veteran parent is her father.

The federal suit argues that in giving benefits to children of women and not men who served in Vietnam, the law is unconstitutional and unsupported by modern science.

Complaint (April 27, 2026)

Vietnam Veteran and Daughter Sue VA over Denial of Benefits for Agent Orange Birth Defects, Press Release, April 27, 2026

Lawsuit seeks V.A. benefits for Branford woman whose father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, WTNH Channel 8, April 27, 2026

Vietnam Veteran and Daughter Sue VA for Agent Orange Birth Defect Benefits, Military.com, May 1, 2026