Couple denies surrogate abortion claim

Ms Beasley claims the couple demanded she abort a foetus

A US couple has denied claims by a British surrogate mother that they told her to abort one of the two babies she is carrying.

Helen Beasley, 26, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, is suing Charles Wheeler and Martha Berman for allegedly backing out of a surrogacy deal when they discovered she was carrying twins.

She claims Mr Wheeler and Ms Berman demanded she abort one of the foetuses because they only wanted one child.

Ms Beasley, a legal secretary, who is 25 weeks pregnant, has filed lawsuits claiming breach of contract and misrepresentation.

The Californian couple, who are both lawyers, say another set of would-be parents have been found for the twins.

'Selective reduction'

Dianne Michelsen, lawyer for Mr Wheeler and Ms Berman, denied the accusations of ordering an abortion, according to reports.

She said it was more of a "request" as outlined in the contract, which called for a "selective reduction" if Ms Beasley became pregnant with more than one foetus.

The US couple's lawyer says the contract favoured 'selective reduction'

The new prospective parents had undergone a medical and emotional and psychological screenings to be approved, she said.

Ms Beasley, who launched her legal action in the Family Court of the San Diego Superior Court on 1 August, is seeking unspecified damages for medical costs and emotional suffering.

She has to sue in order to gain legal rights over the children.

Ms Beasley first made contact with the couple through the internet, and underwent in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment in San Diego in February.

Parental rights

Eggs from a donor selected by the couple were used along with sperm donated by Mr Wheeler.

Ms Beasley, who has a nine-year-old son, said she had agreed to abort additional foetuses if more than one egg was fertilised.

But she said a verbal agreement was made that such a decision had to be made before the 12th week of her pregnancy.

When the couple scheduled a hospital appointment for the abortion in her 13th week, she objected on health grounds.

Under California law, she found she had no right to do so because parental rights in a surrogate birth are granted to the intended parents.

In Britain the would-be parents have no rights even if the child is genetically related to both of them.