Couple sues surrogate who refused to abort their baby over a minor birth defect

Key Points:

• A Canadian same-sex couple is suing their surrogate mother for emotional distress, breach of confidentiality, and failure to keep them adequately informed after she refused their request to abort their fetus due to a minor birth defect and cleft lip.
• The surrogate, who used in-vitro fertilization with embryos from a donor egg and both men’s sperm, declined the abortion at 22 weeks, citing the fetus’s survival prospects and the largely cosmetic nature of the cleft lip.
• Tensions escalated over the surrogate’s decision to have a home birth instead of a hospital birth as requested by the parents; the child experienced breathing difficulties but recovered after hospital treatment.
• The surrogate sought reimbursement for approximately $10,000 in outstanding expenses and lost wages, which the parents ignored, leading to legal disputes that culminated in the parents filing a lawsuit against her.
• Experts and surrogacy advocates highlight the case’s ethical and legal complexities, emphasizing the need for better protections for surrogate mothers and questioning the parents’ motives and suitability to raise the child.