When a Vancouver couple discovered that the child they had commissioned had Down syndrome, they urged their surrogate mother to abort it, a doctor has told Canadian Society of Fertility and Andrology conference.

Dr Ken Seethram, the treating doctor, said that the three had signed a contract sometime in the past year covering delivery of the baby, although no Canadian laws currently govern such transactions. He used the case to call for government regulation of surrogacy.

The couple and the surrogate discovered that the baby had Down syndrome early in the first trimester. They were all shocked because none of them had contemplated the possibility of a defective product. Initially the surrogate, who already had two children of her own, refused, but eventually she had the abortion.

The case led to lively discussion in the Canadian media. "Should the rules of commerce apply to the creation of children? No, because children get hurt," Juliet Guichon of the University of Calgary, said in the National Post. "It's kind of like stopping the production line: 'Oh, oh, there's a flaw.' It makes sense in a production scenario, but in reproduction it's a lot more problematic."

On the other hand, a surrogacy broker, Sally Rhoads of Surrogacy In Canada Online, said that the parents needed to be protected. “The baby that's being carried is their baby. It's usually their genetic offspring," she said. "Why should the intended parents be forced to raise a child they didn't want? It's not fair."

Ms Rhoads said that in some US states, parents can sue a surrogate to recoup their fees if she persists with pregnancy against their wishes. She knew of three cases in Canada in which the surrogate mother raised the child even though the commissioning couple had backed out. ~ National Post, Oct 6