As prosecutors Tuesday are expected to charge Dr. Louis Chen with two counts of aggravated murder, the Seattle Times today reveals details of Chen’s relationship with his partner Eric Cooper and the true story behind their young son, Cooper Chen:

While Chen was working as an attending physician at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis, they began the long process of having a child through surrogacy, according to several friends of the couple.

Their child was not adopted from outside the country, as originally reported, but conceived with Chen’s sperm and the egg of an anonymous Taiwanese woman, and carried to term by a surrogate mother from Oregon, the friends said. When the child was born nearly three years ago, he was adopted by Eric Cooper and named Cooper Chen.

“They loved that baby. They adored him,” said a friend who had gone to medical school with Chen and is now a physician in Massachusetts. “It was one thing they always agreed on, and it was really very sweet.” more…