Brittney Pearson was 25 weeks pregnant as a surrogate when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Doctors told her her life-threatening illness required immediate treatment.
Not wanting to end the baby’s life, Brittney decided to deliver the child early to give it the best chance of survival. However, the gay couple who were renting her womb would have none of it. They did not want a premature baby, nor risk the potential serious medical needs that might come with it.
In a thread on Twitter, Lila Rose, President and Founder of LiveAction, explained that the gay men demanded the child be “immediately terminated.”
When Brittney refused and even offered to adopt the child, the men threatened legal action and demanded a death certificate.
Brittney eventually delivered the child, but the gay couple had legal “ownership” of the newborn. The “owners” ordered that life-saving care be withheld from the infant.
Soon after, the baby died.
Rose details the harrowing account:
“Two men hired surrogate Brittney Pearson to create their ‘dream family.’ By the end of the process, a 25-week-old baby boy was murdered.
“While pregnant, Brittney received a breast cancer diagnosis and decided to deliver the baby early at 25 weeks so she could receive chemo treatment while giving the child a possible chance of survival.
“She said her thought was, ‘I want to keep this baby safe and bring it earthside.’
“But the purchasing couple didn’t want to pay Brittney for a baby born before 38 weeks due to the potential health problems of a premature baby.
“They demanded the baby be ‘immediately terminated.’
“When Brittney refused to kill the baby, they threatened legal action. When she offered to adopt the child, they demanded a death certificate.
“Brittney has described her experience as a surrogate as feeling like ‘a rented-out uterus.’
“Surrogacy laws in California gave no rights to Brittney or the baby.
“She was able to deliver the baby at 25 weeks, but the purchasing couple had ‘ownership’ of the child after birth. They ordered that life-saving care be withheld. The baby boy died shortly after birth.”
Rose went on to say that while it appears Brittney tried to protect this child in the womb, her participation in surrogacy played a partial role in the ultimate death of this little boy.
“From his moment of conception, he was stripped of his fundamental rights and treated as a product that could be discarded at the first sign of defect,” she said.
“Surrogacy is fundamentally wrong.
“It enables people to act as if they are entitled to other people’s reproductive abilities – the body of the woman whose womb they are renting. It also treats children like property to be bought, sold, and killed.
“This case is just another example of why.”
Brittney sat down with The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network to discuss her experience.
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