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Surrogacy resolution rests with British woman, attorney says
SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- The attorney for a California couple accused of reneging on a surrogate contract said resolution of the case rests with the British woman pregnant with twins and her attorney. In response to a request for an interview, Diane Michelsen -- attorney for Charles Wheeler and Martha Berman of Berkeley -- said she had nothing further to say about the case beyond her statement Sunday, in which she said Helen Beasley and her attorney Theresa Erickson were trying to "exploit the situation." "I appreciate your willingness to follow up. However, my clients feel that they have already said what needed to be said. We have been in communication with Ms. Erickson about resolution, and the ball is again in her court," Michelsen said in an e-mail message sent to CNN. Meanwhile, another couple will take over the surrogacy contract that sparked a lawsuit by a British woman carrying twins originally intended for a California couple, Michelsen said.
Michelsen told The Associated Press that there was "never any possibility" that the babies would be abandoned and denied that anyone ordered Beasley, 26, to abort one of the fetuses. "There has been and continues to be a fully qualified couple who is ready, willing and able to immediately accept the custody of the children," Michelsen said. She said it was more of a "request," as outlined in the contract, which called for a "selective reduction" if Beasley became pregnant with more than one fetus. On Monday, Beasley, a 26-year-old single mother, sat down for an interview with CNN and described a surrogacy arrangement that began via the Internet last winter on a positive note, but soured into finger-pointing and legal threats. She said the couple wanted her to abort one of the fetuses after they learned she was carrying twins, but they only told her of their decision after the 12th week of pregnancy. According to the lawsuit, there was a verbal agreement between the parties that any such abortion, known as "selective reduction," would take place prior to 12 weeks.
Beasley refused the selective reduction because of health concerns, and the couple, she said, responded by saying they didn't want the babies. The twins are due November 26. "It's just been an absolute nightmare," said Beasley, who arrived in San Diego last week. Beasley filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court for breach of contract, fraud and emotional distress. She said she also wants to revoke the California couple's parental rights so she can "go out and find some new parents for the babies."
According to the lawsuit, Beasley became pregnant in March via in vitro fertilization with a donor's egg and Wheeler's sperm. Beasley signed a "gestational surrogacy agreement" with the California couple, whom she met through a surrogacy Web site. According to her attorney, she has received only a $1,000 initial payment and has not been paid the other roughly $19,000 she was promised. Wheeler and Berman allege, according to the lawsuit, that it was Beasley who broke the terms of the contract. In the interview with CNN, Beasley said she was also "shocked" by some comments she said Berman made as the pregnancy progressed. Beasley said Berman said the egg donor was overweight. "She raised concerns that it could be genetic, and that their child would subsequently be fat," Beasley said, adding that Berman also raised other health concerns about the egg donor. "They also said they had wished they had known it would have worked so easy because then they would gone for better quality. ... I don't know whether they meant better quality egg donor or better quality surrogate," Beasley said. Erickson also said the California couple seemed interested only in having a girl. The California couple have spoken only through their attorney. Sunday, Michelsen said the couple had tried to help Beasley find other adoptive parents and complained that reporting on the case has been full of "glaring inaccuracies and omissions." While Beasley said she has "grown more attached to" the unborn babies than she had hoped, she remains determined to give them up to an American couple. Ruth Claiborne, an Atlanta adoption attorney, said the lawsuit could break new legal ground. "I don't know of any cases that have addressed a situation like this one," she said. The resolution of the case, Claiborne said, comes down to how the court interprets this particular contract. "Most surrogacy agreements call for the intended parents to take possession of the child or children regardless of any disability or any other factors that may come into play," she said. "And so, typically, they would take possession. Now, of course, there's always the remedy of adoption. If they don't want to raise the twins then they could locate another family and go through an adoption process." |
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