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SAN DIEGO — A Northern California couple say they will pay a British surrogate mother who is suing them for breach of contract. 

Helen Beasley will receive a scheduled payment of approximately $9,000 from Martha Berman and Charles Wheeler of Berkeley, the couple’s attorney, Gerald McMahon, said during a court hearing Thursday. 

With the latest payment, Beasley will have received $10,000 of the $19,000 the couple offered her to bear a child.  

The dispute landed in San Diego Superior Court this summer when the couple asked the 26-year-old legal secretary to abort one of the twins she is carrying, and she refused. 

“They can’t be allowed to turn their backs on the babies just because it suits them,” said Beasley, who is six months pregnant.  

“These people need to be brought to justice and pay for what they’ve done.”