On February 22, 2012, six days after the fateful ultrasound, Kelley received a letter. The parents had hired a lawyer.

"You are obligated to terminate this pregnancy immediately," wrote Douglas Fishman, an attorney in West Hartford, Connecticut. "You have squandered precious time."

On March 5, Kelley would be 24 weeks pregnant, and after that, she couldn't legally abort the pregnancy, he said.

"TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE," he wrote.

Fishman reminded Kelley that she'd signed a contract, agreeing to "abortion in case of severe fetus abnormality." The contract did not define what constituted such an abnormality.

Kelley was in breach of contract, he wrote, and if she did not abort, the parents would sue her to get back the fees they'd already paid her -- around $8,000 -- plus all of the medical expenses and legal fees.

Fishman declined to comment on the specifics of the case.

"The situation... is complicated. It's very complicated," Fishman said.

Speaking generally, he said everyone who enters into a surrogacy contact needs to be clear from the beginning about what they are willing and able to do.

"When there's a lack of clarity then you start to have a recipe for problems," he said. "You want to position yourself to not have to be addressing these kinds of issues for the first time when the crisis hits."

After receiving Fishman's letter, Kelley decided it was time to get her own attorney.

Michael DePrimo, an attorney in Hamden, Connecticut, took the case for free. He explained that no matter what the contract said, she couldn't be forced to have an abortion.

DePrimo sent an e-mail to Fishman, the parents' lawyer, stating that Kelley was not going to have an abortion.

"Ms. Kelley was more than willing to abort this fetus if the dollars were right," Fishman shot back.

"The not-so-subtle insinuation that Ms. Kelley attempted to extort money from your clients is unfounded and reprehensible," DePrimo responded. "If you wish to propose a solution to this unspeakable tragedy, I will listen and apprize my client accordingly (sic)."

"However, as I mentioned in my previous correspondence, abortion is off the table and will not be considered under any circumstance," he said.

A secret flight

In an affidavit filed in Connecticut Superior Court, DePrimo described what happened next.

DePrimo received a phone call from Fishman telling him the parents had changed their minds. They now planned to exercise their legal right to take custody of their child -- and then immediately after birth surrender her to the state of Connecticut. She would become a ward of the state.

DePrimo explained to Kelley that this was no empty threat. Under state law, they were the parents, not her, and under Connecticut's Safe Haven Act for Newborns, parents can voluntarily give up custody of a baby less than a month old without being arrested for child abandonment.