--- description: A surrogate mother carrying triplets has filed a lawsuit in California after the biological father asked her to abort one of the fetuses title: Surrogate Mother Asked to Abort Fetus or Face Monetary Damages image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Law](/tag/law/) ## Law Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Surrogate Mother Carrying Triplets Asked to Abort One Fetus or Face Monetary Damages ## Video: Filming Embryos Improves Chances of Pregnancy [Watch (HLS stream): Filming Embryos Improves Chances of Pregnancy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1HDjrg7H.m3u8) (3:41)  _Published 2010-10-08. Just after Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize for his In Vitro Fertilization work, a new study said careful video observation of the fertilization process improves chances for a successful pregnancy_ by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2016 6:12 AM CUT by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2016 6:12 AM CUT A surrogate mother carrying triplets has [filed a lawsuit](http://www.people.com/article/surrogate-mom-sues-over-abortion?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined") in California after the biological father asked her to abort one of the fetuses, saying he only wanted twins. Melissa Cook refused to abort the baby and filed a 47-page complaint that challenges the state’s surrogacy law, according to an exclusive interview by _People_. An unnamed Georgia man hired Cook for $33,000 to have a child using his sperm and a 20-year-old donor’s eggs. But when Cook, a mother of four, informed the man that all three of the implanted embryos had taken, he demanded she abort one or face monetary damages. Read the full story at [people.com](http://www.people.com/article/surrogate-mom-sues-over-abortion?xid=IFT-Trending "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/"},"headline":"Surrogate Mother Carrying Triplets Asked to Abort One Fetus or Face Monetary Damages","datePublished":"2016-01-06T06:12:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:48:53.289Z","description":"She has filed a complaint that challenges the state’s surrogacy law","url":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/","keywords":["Law","California","abortion","Lawsuit","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/law/","name":"Law"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/","name":"Surrogate Mother Carrying Triplets Asked to Abort One Fetus or Face Monetary Damages"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Filming Embryos Improves Chances of Pregnancy","description":"Just after Robert Edwards won the Nobel Prize for his In Vitro Fertilization work, a new study said careful video observation of the fertilization process improves chances for a successful pregnancy","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/1HDjrg7H/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-10-08T20:58:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1HDjrg7H.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/","duration":"PT3M41S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4168950/surrogacy-mother-law-abortion-california/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```