Gay couple forced to give baby back to surrogate mom after DNA test
A gay couple from Twente had to give their baby up to her surrogate mother after it became clear that the woman's husband fathered the baby, and not one of the men in the gay couple, AD reports.
The woman became pregnant in September. According to the newspaper, she performed the insemination herself, with sperm from the gay couple. Part of the surrogate agreement was that the woman would have only safe sex with her own husband while pregnant. Baby Hayley was born on May 8th. The Twente couple was present at the birth and took the baby home with them two days later.
A DNA test was done on the child, as was agreed in advance, and it revealed that not the homosexual men, but the surrogate's husband was the baby's father. The couple informed the surrogate of the results themselves. According to them, she did not ask for the child back.
In court on Friday, in an already arranged hearing to establish who had custody of Hayley, the surrogate and her husband revealed that they wanted to keep the child themselves. The court ruled in favor of the biological parents.
The Twente couple was left with empty hands. "What happened is bizarre. As gay parents you actually don't have any rights at all", they said to the newspaper. "We still respect the surrogate, but our trust was damaged."
"Hayley was and is our child", one of the men said to AD. "It still feels like that. She was with us for two weeks. And suddenly, on a beautiful spring day, she was gone and the nursery changed into a place of sadness. It feels like a funeral."
