A surrogate mother refused to abort her baby at 22 weeks at the request of the same-sex men after learning the child may have a cleft lip. Though the baby was ultimately born and given to the couple, they are now suing the surrogate mother for $600,000 in damages in civil court.
According to the National Post, the lawsuit does not specifically mention the refusal to abort the child as a claim, but the mother and the agency which matched her to the couple agree that the abortion demand was the beginning of a sour relationship.
An ultrasound revealed a possible cleft lip and other genetic abnormalities, but eventually other specialists said that any health effects would be minor and the couple allowed the pregnancy to continue.
The mother wanted to do an at-home birth against the couple’s wishes, and the tensions rose even further, per the National Post. The baby had “breathing problems on delivery but soon recovered when the midwives administered oxygen, and called an ambulance to take him to hospital.” After the birth, the couple cut off communication with the surrogate, who in turn asked to be reimbursed for about $10,000 in “outstanding expenses, including lost income from work during the pregnancy, contributions to her pension plan she missed and transportation costs.”
She sought out a small claims court to settle the dispute, but discovered that the contract required any issues to be settled in private arbitration. Then the gay couple initiated their civil suit against the mother, accusing her of failing to “keep them abreast of the fetus’s health, put the baby’s health at risk by negligent behaviour and ‘failing to follow the (parents’) direction regarding decisions affecting the fetus’s medical care.’”
Sally Rhoads-Heinrich, the owner of Surrogacy in Canada Online which matched the surrogate and the gay couple, is sympathetic to the mother. “What I find most difficult in this is they are suing the woman who brought their son to them,” she said. “How is their son going to feel some day if he learns that?”
The surrogate, who is a single mother herself, faces the loss of her home if the couple were to win the suit, although Rhoads-Henrich says Canadian law is clear that surrogate mothers have the final say in whether to have an abortion or not in any pregnancy.
“I just feel used,” said the surrogate mother. “They didn’t get the perfect child they wanted and they threw me away.”
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