Imagine you’re a parent who is being told that you can’t bring home your own biological twins unless you go through lots of hoops, red tape, and background checks to officially adopt them.
That’s the nightmare one couple recently faced due to an outdated 1988 anti-surrogacy law in Michigan.
In a bizarre legal case that has the Internet buzzing, two judges stood by their decision when they declared that Tammy and Jordan Myers had no legal rights to their own newborn babies.
No one is disputing the fact that Tammy and Jordan are a 100% DNA match to newborns Eames Alexander and his sister, Ellison Erin Jewe.
Even trash-talk show host Maury Povich would immediately exclaim, “You ARE the mother and father!”
But, that’s not how two Michigan judges see it. According to them, the law is the law is the law.
Meaning, they were viewing the law through the lens of unbending absolutes, with zero wiggle room for compassion.
Tammy and Jordan had always hoped to give their daughter a brother or sister, but six years ago Tammy was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sadly, the life-saving medical treatment she received meant that she was unable to go through another pregnancy.
However, Tammy had her eggs frozen, which meant there was still hope they could have another child.
Lauren Vermilye, a married mom with two children of her own offered to be a gestational surrogate for Tammy and Jordan for free. She and her husband, Jonathan, lived nearby and were more than happy to help make the couple’s dream come true.
It was all going according to plan until the twins were born prematurely.
But, it turned out the premature part was the least of their worries.
Everyone was astonished when now-retired Kent County Circuit Judge Daniel Zemaitis said that the contract between the two couples was unenforceable.
“This Court will not ignore by judicial action the clear language of (the law).”
Unfortunately, the argument fell on deaf ears.
Event their lawyer, Melissa Neckers, couldn’t sway the judges to do the right thing when she pleaded:
“Cancer has taken a lot from Tammy and Jordan, including Tammy’s ability to carry another child, but they have not let it defeat them.”
Now, Tammy and Jordan are being forced to adopt their own babies.
And in order to do that, they have to go through background checks and home studies about how they plan to discipline their children.
This, despite the fact they have already successfully raised a happy and healthy 11-year-old daughter with no prior government interference.
A stunned Tammy told CBS News:
“We really truly didn’t believe that someone could hear the history and not give us rights.”
Social media doesn’t think this crazy case makes any sense either.
One commenter on YouTube wrote:
“So two judges decided that a woman with cancer unable to carry more children has to adopt their own children just because the kids came out of a different woman. This is anti-family and gross!”
Another commenter, Louanne Bridges had this to say:
“DNA testing should be enough, especially if the surrogate and her husband sign off. Wow, come into the 21st century already.”
However, Courtney Tafoya took a more lighthearted approach to the whole ordeal:
“When big sister tells them they were adopted she won’t be lying.”
Check out the video below to find out more about this crazy, outdated law.
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