Triplets at Center Of Surrogate Baby Custody Battle Now Living with Biological Dad and 'Doing Fine,' Says Attorney

The triplets at the center of a custody battle – between the surrogate mom who gave birth to them and their biological father – have left the Los Angeles hospital where they've been kept since their birth in February and are now living at their father's home in Georgia.

"They're doing fine," Robert Walmsley, the father's attorney, tells PEOPLE. "My client is finally getting to raise his kids and he's loving it. He's a happy guy right now."

In March, a Los Angeles judge granted surrogate mom Melissa Cook a temporary stay that prohibited the biological father, identified only as C.M. in court papers, from removing the children from California.

The 48-year-old mother of four found herself entangled in a complex headline-making legal battle earlier this year, set into motion, she claims, after she refused the biological father's demands to abort one of the babies she was carrying because he'd allegedly run out of cash.



On Feb. 22, Cook gave birth to three baby boys and watched helplessly as hospital nurses whisked the infants away from her. She has never been allowed to see the babies.

Cook filed lawsuits against the father – a deaf, single 50-year-old postal worker who lives with his elderly parents in Georgia – contending that he is unable to care for the infants.

In the various lawsuits filed in state and federal court, she asked to have California's surrogacy law declared unconstitutional and grant her custody of one of the children – although she insists that she's prepared to care for all of them.

The temporary stay was lifted on April 14. Two days later the babies were on a plane with C.M. and flown to his home in Georgia.

"That first night they were taken to the hospital after one of them had some reflux issues and wasn't able to keep their formula down," says Walmsley. "But they're doing great now and their dad is ecstatic. He's definitely tired, though. Raising three kids is a handful."

C.M. is currently on a 12-week leave from his job and is tending to his sons with the assistance of relatives and hired help, explains Walmsley, who also claims that his client is being "watched" by investigators from Georgia's Child Protective Services.

Cook and her attorneys remain undaunted by the latest developments in the case and have vowed to continue their legal fight.

"This case illustrates the intrinsically dehumanizing nature of surrogacy," Cook's attorney Harold Cassidy tells PEOPLE. "We're still worried about the children and we will be trying to get access to them very soon."