Custody battle for twins delivered by Ypsilanti surrogate tests surrogacy regula

NEW YORK TIMES-A Michigan custody battle for twins delivered by an Ypsilanti surrogate is testing the bounds of the legal rights of both the surrogate and the intended parents.

The New York Times reported this weekend that Grand Rapids couple Amy Kehoe and her husband Scott, who were struggling with infertility, selected an egg donor who was a pre-med student at the University of Michigan.

They picked a sperm donor from a California company, hired IVF Michigan as their fertility clinic and arranged for Laschell Baker of Ypsilanti to act as their surrogate.

"We paid for the egg, the sperm, the in vitro fertilization," Kehoe told the Times. "They wouldn't be here if it weren't for us."

But shortly after twins arrived, the couple lost custody to Baker when she pursued a court order to retrieve the children. Baker became concerned upon learning Kehoe was being treated for a mental illness, the Times reported.

Michigan law does not uphold surrogacy agreements and offers a strong legal case to the woman who gives birth if she chooses to keep the babies.

"I couldn't see living the rest of my life worrying and wondering what had happened, or what if she hadn't taken her medicine, or what if she relapsed," Baker, who has four children of her own, told the Times.

(Edit:Ruby)