THOUSAND OAKS, California, December 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Another surrogate carrier is fighting for the life of the child in her womb.
As LifeSiteNews reported, Melissa Cook in California is carrying triplets conceived by a Georgia man and a 20-year-old egg donor. Since all three survived and are growing in Cook's womb, the Georgia man is threatening Cook with financial ruin if she does not abort at least one of the babies.
Now, surrogate carrier Brittneyrose Torres is being pressured to abort at least one of her triplets. She told The New York Post that the birth parents “knew from the beginning that we wouldn't want to abort unless it was a life-and-death situation.”
Torres, 26, was initially implanted with two embryos in hopes that one of them would develop. It is the usual practice to implant more than one conceived baby because many do not survive the procedure. In Torres's case, not only did both survive, a boy and a girl, but twinning occurred, giving Torres one girl and two twin boys.
Initially excited about triplets, the parental contractors later claimed increased risk of developmental disabilities and demanded that Torres abort the girl.
“I told her I couldn't abort one of the children,” Torres told The Post. “I believe it will be killing this baby.” She even offered to adopt the girl, but the parental contractors refused.
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“Reproductive technology has reduced each of the children in question to a commodity that can be traded, discarded, killed, or accepted, according to the whims of the parents who paid for the procedure,” Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, told LifeSiteNews.
“It is clear that such technology breeds cavalier attitudes toward children who result from such practices,” Ms. Brown concluded. “As a result, the dignity that each pre-born child possesses is too easily ignored.”
“Torres's decision to choose life for the triplets she was asked to carry for another couple speaks volumes to what is wrong with reproductive technology, and why the Catholic Church has been wise to teach that each child has a right to be created within the context of a loving marriage between a man and a woman,” the pro-life leader told LifeSiteNews. “This is very sad, and it calls us to remember that building a culture of life begins with accepting God's plan for the procreation of children.
“No one has a right to a child, and surely no one should have the right to instruct a third party, a surrogate mother, to kill babies that they engaged the surrogate to carry for them,” the American Life League co-founder stated. “Thankfully, Britney has chosen to ignore the instructions of her triplets' parents, and she will carry them to term.”
In both the Torres and Cook cases, the contract signed included a provision giving the parental contractors the legal right to order an abortion. In both cases, the parental contractors are withholding payments until the surrogate carriers abort.
“I want other women not to be put in this situation,” Torres said. “They shouldn't be forced to do something they don't want to.”