Surrogate mother sues over demand for abortion

A British woman acting as a surrogate mother for a Californian couple has gone to court accusing them of trying to change the terms of their agreement after they discovered she was having twins.

Helen Beasley, 26, filed a suit against the couple in both the civil and family courts in San Diego, claiming they asked her to abort one of the foetuses but waited until after the 12-week cut-off point stipulated in their contract.

Ms Beasley, a legal secretary, refused to have the abortion on health grounds and now wants to terminate the couple's rights over either child, preferring to farm them out together for adoption. According to family law experts, this is the first time that prospective parents in California have ever rejected a surrogate child.

"They didn't want two babies. They wanted one baby and that's it," Ms Beasley's lawyer, Theresa Erickson, said. "When Helen said she wouldn't reduce, they said, 'Well, we only wanted one. We don't want to separate them, so you figure out what you're going to do with the two babies'."

The couple, Charles Wheeler and Martha Berman, from Berkeley, have refused to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement. According to Ms Erickson, they linked up with Ms Beasley over the internet and paid for her to come out to California for in vitro fertilisation. She signed a contract in February, receiving a $1,000 advance on a $20,000 (£14,000) fee, and became pregnant a month later. The sperm came from Mr Wheeler, and the egg was from an anonymous donor.

She discovered she was carrying twins at eight weeks and immediately informed the couple. They did not ask her to abort one of the foetuses until the end of the 13th week, the lawsuit alleges. "No way was I going to put my health at risk when they had all that time to sort it out,'' Ms Beasley said. She does not want to adopt them herself because she cannot afford to raise them. She already has a seven-year-old son.

In civil court, Ms Beasley is suing for emotional distress and breach of contract. In family court, she is seeking to have the couple's rights over the twins terminated.