Whoa. I don't know why I never really considered the possibility of this kind of thing happening before, but I was fairly shocked when I heard about what happened to Canadian surrogate mom Cathleen Hachey. The 20-year-old woman was 27 weeks into her pregnancy -- with twins -- when she got some very unexpected news from the British couple who'd signed a contract promising to adopt the babies.
The couple was in the process of splitting up, unfortunately.
And oh, by the way ...
Cathleen could keep the babies. Now that they weren't going to be together, the couple didn't really want to be parents anymore.
Oh. My. God.
And it gets worse! Wait until you hear the way the intended parents broke the bad news!
Okay, are you ready??
BY TEXT MESSAGE.
That's right, the British couple who signed the aforementioned contract giving them legal custody of Hachey's babies once they were born, and who agreed to pay the surrogate $200 per month to cover pregnancy expenses, backed out via text message.
Talk about bad manners.
Thank god Hachey was able to find a couple in Nova Scotia who were beyond thrilled to adopt the babies (especially because the young surrogate already has two children, aged 1 and 2, of her own at home). And she's not bitter about the experience -- in fact, she's planning on starting another surrogate pregnancy in January. (I know, I know.)
This time Hachey will have her own lawyer, she says, a protective benefit she didn't have with the twins. Apparently, even though there are plenty of laws surrounding surrogacy, they're difficult to enforce, especially in the case of a "traditional surrogacy" like this one, when the baby(s) is conceived using the prospective father's sperm and the surrogate mother's egg instead of the prospective mother's egg. This method is easier and cheaper (think turkey baster in the bathroom), but in the end, those twins were Hachey's biological children.
I guess it's a happy ending for everybody?
Are you surprised that Cathleen Hachey wants to be a surrogate mom again?
Image via Jeremy Miles/Flickr
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Comments 125
I remember reading another story on The Stir about a surrogate mother who changed her mind and decided to keep the children and the father still had to pay child support. Even though it's a crappy situation, this couple had just as much a right to change their mind.
Wow. I don't think I've ever heard it happen that way before! No kidding she could find another couple easy enough! Finding adoptive couples is flat out easy. It's finding people who want to adopt their babies out that is so hard :( I'd have JUMPED on the chance to adopt twins.
There simply cannot be paid surrogacy in Canada aside from expenses.
The problem is that she didn't have an enforceable contact to hold the couple to.
jalazz LOVE IT.. child support sounds fair for a life altering decision they made, and thought they could throw it away... pathetic
Personally I think that her trying to help people that cannot have children for whatever reason is selfless. It was a good choice to give the babies up because she already had two children of her own. Glad she is still willing to make others parents.
I am shocked that a woman can sell her babies and be ok with it. I understand surrogacy that is other peoples eggs and sperm but to sell your babies is gross and wrong. It's just as bad when a man sells his sperm, yet the woman even grows her own babies in her womb and then goes through labor before she hads those sweet babies to another couple. I cannot image needing money bad enough to sell my on flesh and blood. It's not normal and there is nothing acceptable about this whole situation. It's creepy and definitely against God.