The man's lawyer, Robert Walmsley, told the Washington Post that doctors had told the man that there were major risks in multiple births and this motivated his suggestion that Cook undergo a selective abortion, not convenience.
"Believe me, it crushed him to make that call or request," the attorney said.
Cook challenged this account, saying the man initially told her he could not raise all three children.
Walmsley said the biological father has since accepted Cook's decision and has said he will raise all three children.
Another California woman, Brittneyrose Torres, is a surrogate about 17 weeks into her pregnancy. She told the New York Post her surrogacy contract paid $25,000 for carrying one child and an extra $5,000 for carrying two or more children. The 26-year-old woman was implanted with a male and a female embryo. The male embryo split into twins.
The biological parents then asked her to abort the unborn girl about 12 weeks into her pregnancy, citing concerns about increased health risks.
"I emailed my doctors. There were no abnormalities," Torres told the New York Post. She recounted a conversation with the babies' biological mother.
"I told her I couldn't abort one of the children," she said. "I could not emotionally and physically do that at nearly 13 weeks. I believe it will be killing this baby."
Torres said the couple refused her offer to adopt the girl.
Andrew Vorzimer, an attorney for the babies' biological parents, told the Washington Post that the situation has been resolved. He said the biological parents had suggested the abortion for the unborn girl because it was medically easier, as the male babies were in the same gestational sac. According to Vorzimer, the mother had initially agreed to an abortion but later refused.
For surrogacy critics like White, there are hopes the latest stories will spark action.
(Story continues below)
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"We're hoping that legislators and the general public alike will take a serious look at this practice and the harms involved," he said.
Surrogacy law in the U.S. is "a patchwork of legislation," White said. "Some states explicitly allow it, others ban it, and in many areas the law is simple grey – which makes the legal protection for surrogate mothers equally ambiguous."
He added that surrogate-conceived children face significant health risks including low birth weights, general development difficulties, and an increased likelihood of stillbirths.
"Surrogate mothers are enticed with large sums of money that coerce them to act against their best interests," White charged. "This in itself corrupts the notion of informed consent within the medical profession."
In developing countries some women are forced into the practice by their husbands to help pay family expenses.
White said that last fall in Idaho, a surrogate mother pregnant with twins died from complications. He accused the media and government authorities of turning a blind eye.