CUSTODY BATTLE Father sues for triplets born to surrogate

The surrogate mother has decided to keep the babies.
ERIE (AP) -- A father told a judge Friday that he took a higher paying job he didn't really want and built a large home in an affluent community because he planned to have children through a surrogate mother.
However, the three boys James Flynn planned to name Lance, Easton and Shane now live under the names Matthew, Mark and Micah -- names given them by their surrogate mother, who was given custody by an Erie County judge.
Flynn, 62, of Kirtland, Ohio, is the biological father of the boys, and the mother was an anonymous egg donor. Danielle Bimber, 30, agreed to be a surrogate for Flynn and his fianc & eacute;e, but sought custody of the boys after they were born Nov. 19.
Flynn appealed that order. On Friday, he told Judge Shad Connelly that the boys should live with him.
"The person who has them now has no biological connection. She was a person who was paid for a service," said Flynn, a Cleveland State University professor.
Bimber has maintained she never intended to seek custody, but did so because Flynn and his fianc & eacute;e never showed up to claim the boys after their birth.
"Maybe they don't have my eyes. Maybe they don't have my hair, but I carried them, I cared for them," said Bimber, who lives with her husband and their three children in Corry. She testified that Flynn's fianc & eacute;e, Eileen Donich, once angrily called her "nothing but a rented uterus."
Bimber's lawyer said the case is akin to a custody dispute between a divorced couple, even though his client has no biological ties to the boys.
The testimony Friday focused solely on who could provide a better environment for the children, with Flynn being questioned when he would be getting married and if he knew what size clothes the boys wore or what medicines they took. Flynn said he spent about $600,000 to build a home, while his lawyer described Bimber's living in an economically depressed town.
Although Bimber has temporary custody, Flynn is allowed to have the children for eight days every month. Flynn argued the babies have breathing problems because Bimber lets cats sleep with them; the Bimber family doctor testified that he has seen the boys regularly and they are healthy.
Donich's daughter testified about her mother, who could be the triplets' mother if Flynn gets custody. Dawn Donich said her mother put herself through school to raise her and her brother after their father died.