A COUPLE is suing the surrogate who carried their son after she refused to terminate the pregnancy because of a cleft lip and possible genetic conditions.

The same-sex couple requested the surrogate undergo an abortion after testing showed the baby had a cleft lip, possibly a cleft palate and a minor heart defect.

But the Ontario-based surrogate refused the request arguing that the defects could be rectified with surgery.

The intended parents eventually agreed to continue with the pregnancy.

Two years later, the couple filed a lawsuit in the Ontario Superior Court against the surrogate, the National Post reports.

The parents alleged the woman failed to keep them informed about the health of the baby, put the child at risk, caused them emotional distress and violated their confidentiality.

The surrogate, who is a single mother working as a corrections officer, has denied the accusations.

The statement of claim filed with the court reportedly does not refer to the couple’s request to terminate the pregnancy at 22 weeks.

But the head of the surrogacy agency that brought the couple and the surrogate together said the relationship collapsed after the disagreement over the abortion request.

Sally Rhoads-Heinrich, owner of Surrogacy in Canada Online, said: “That’s when everything changed … they wanted a termination.”

Tensions between the parents and the surrogate reportedly deepened when the woman insisted on a home birth attended by midwives, despite concerns over the cleft lip.

The baby had breathing problems at birth, but was delivered safely after midwives administered oxygen and called an ambulance.

When the surrogate’s request to be reimbursed $10,000 for out-of-pocket expenses, lost income and pension contributions went unanswered, she filed with the small claims court to recover the funds.

It was then that the couple filed the civil lawsuit against her – indicating that they were seeking $600,000 (£318,000).

“You know I’m a single mom, you know I have a daughter, and you’re basically suing me for my house. It seems very s**ty, it’s just awful,” she said in an interview.

“I just feel used … They didn’t get the perfect child they wanted and they threw me away.”

The couple reportedly claimed in the lawsuit that one of them had been unable to work from July 2, 2024 – when the woman refused the abortion – until September 2025.

In Canada, surrogates are barred from charging commercial fees and instead act out of a desire to help others achieve their dream of becoming parents.

Jonathan Lancaster, the Toronto-based lawyer representing the couple, said his clients were declining to comment.

The baby was conceived through IVF using embryos from a donor egg and sperm from the couple.

The couple and the surrogate have not been named.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16688267/couple-sue-surrogate-mother-refused-abort-fetus/