Forced Abortion Is Part of Dark World of Surrogacy
9th August 2024
Brittney Pearson was a mother of four and 24 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer—a tragic enough situation. To make a bad situation worse, though, the Sacramento native was pregnant as a surrogate mother for a gay couple.
Upon being informed of the cancer diagnosis, the two men demanded that Pearson abort the child.
While the baby was still in Pearson’s body, she had full rights under California’s bodily autonomy laws. But the intended parents attemptedto coerce her to have an abortion with financial penalties or lawsuits.
Despite these threats, Pearson refused to terminate her pregnancy. She carried the baby as long as she could before having to begin chemotherapy.
After all, Pearson also had to keep herself alive for her own four children.
At around 25 weeks, Pearson went into induced labor. The intended fathers, who were contractually and legally recognized as the child’s parents by California law, decided to withhold lifesaving care and let the infant die.