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Baby MFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Baby M (born March 27, 1986) was the pseudonym used In re Baby M, 537 A.2d 1227, 109 N.J. 396 (N.J.02/03/1988)for the infant named "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead" at her birth, and later named Melissa Stern by herfather by artificial insemination. "In re Baby M"Americancustody case between the child's mother and the child'sbiological father who were strangers who met through a newspaper ad.

[edit]Background

Mary Beth Whitehead, was artificially inseminated with William Stern's sperm, making her the mother of their child.Whitehead had responded to Stern's ad in theAsbury Park Press seeking women willing to help infertile coupleshave children.

[1]Prior to conceiving their daughter, Whitehead and Stern entered into a contract they called a

"surrogacy contract". Contrary to what was stated in their contract, Stern's wife, Elizabeth, was not infertile buthad multiple sclerosis and was concerned about the potential health implications ofpregnancy. A medical colleaguehad warned her that his own wife, who also had multiple sclerosis, had suffered temporary paralysis duringpregnancy.[2]

On March 27, 1986, Whitehead gave birth to her daughter, whom she named "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead". Within 24hours of transferring custody to the Sterns, Whitehead returned to ask for the baby back and was said to havethreatened suicide. Whitehead then refused to return the baby to the Sterns and left New Jersey, taking the infantwith her. The Sterns had the Whitehead family's bank accounts frozen and sought warrants for their arrests.

In 1987, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Harvey R. Sorkow awarded custody of Baby M to the Sterns under a"best interest of the child analysis", validating the surrogacy contract.

[3]

On February 3, 1988, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, led by Chief JusticeRobert Wilentz, invalidated surrogacycontracts as against public policy, but in dicta affirmed the trial court's "best interest of the child" analysis. TheSupreme Court remanded the case to family court. On remand, the lower court awarded Stern custody andWhitehead visitation rights.

[4][5]

The case attracted much attention, as it demonstrated that the possibilities of third party reproduction had novellegal and social ramifications. The case exposed the dilemma of a mother who was impregnated by a stranger,contractual agreements and biological bonding. The case also split feminists who, on one side, argued that awoman has rights to her own body (that is, that she can decide to sell her body and her child if she wishes), but whowere also sensitive to the issue of potential exploitation. The surrogacy arrangement was heavily criticized.

Whitehead later wrote a book about her experience. [6] Additionally, an Emmy-award winning 1988 televisionmovie about the case was featured, starring Jobeth Williams as Whitehead.

[7]

[edit]Aftermath

When Melissa turned 18 in March 2004, she formally terminated Whitehead's parental rights and formalizedElizabeth Stern's maternity through adoption proceedings.

[1]

Melissa went to The George Washington University and majored in religious studies. She said it was strange tostudy the Baby M case in her bioethics class at the university.

[1]

"I love my family very much and am very happy to be with them," Melissa told a reporter for the New JerseyMonthly, referring to the Sterns. "I'm very happy I ended up with them. I love them, they're my best friends in thewhole world, and that's all I have to say about it."

[1]

New Jersey Judge Francis Schultz expanded the Baby Mruling to apply to gestational surrogates, as well asgenetic surrogates, on December 23, 2009, in the case ofA.G.R. v. D.R.H & S.H..

http://anonymousus.org/about/index.php is a website for real and honest opinions about reproductive technologiesand family fragmentation.

A British Court has ruled a woman who bore a daughter under an informal surrogate agreement with a childlesscouple should keep the baby.http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/01/22/Judge-rules-birth-mother-should-keep-baby/UPI-29891295725083/