Appellant
Mary Beth Whitehead
Appellees
William and Elizabeth Stern
Appellant's Claim
That the surrogacy contract was invalid and conflicted with parental rights and adoption statutes.
Chief Lawyers for Appellant
Harold Cassidy, Randy Wolf
Chief Lawyer for Appellees
Gary Skoloff
Justices for the Court
Robert Clifford, Marie L. Garibaldi, Alan B. Handler, Daniel O'Horn, StewartG. Pollock, Gary S. Stein, Robert N. Wilentz (writing for the court)
Justices Dissenting
None
Place
Trenton, New Jersey
Date of Decision
3 February 1988
Decision
The New Jersey Supreme Court invalidated the surrogacy contract, finding it contrary to New Jersey law. It restored Whitehead's parental rights and invalidated Elizabeth Stern's adoption, but granted William Stern custody of the infant.
Significance
This was the first widely followed trial to wrestle with the ethical questions raised by "reproductive technology." This case rejected the legality of surrogacy contracts while eliciting a divided response from feminists. Some asserted the primacy of a mother's claim to her child; others argued that any nullification of the contract would constitute a restriction upon a woman's right to control her own body.
Melissa Stern's conception took place under an agreement signed at Noel Keane's Infertility Center of New York on 5 February 1985. There were three parties to the agreement: Richard Whitehead gave his consent to the agreement's "purposes, intents, and provisions" and to the insemination of Mary Beth Whitehead, his wife, and with the sperm of William Stern. In addition, since any child born to Mary Beth Whitehead would legally be the child of her husband, heagreed that he would "surrender immediate custody of the child" and "terminate his parental rights."
Mary Beth Whitehead agreed to be artificially inseminated and to form no "parent-child relationship" with the baby. She agreed that she would, upon delivery of the child, surrender her parental rights to William Stern; and she further agreed that she would, during the term of the pregnancy, relinquish her right to make a decision about an abortion. She was permitted to seek an abortion only if the fetus was "physiologically abnormal" or if the inseminating physician agreed an abortion was required to insure her "physical health." Mary Beth Whitehead then agreed that it was William Stern's right to require amniocentesis testing and that she would "abort the fetus upon demand of WILLIAMSTERN should a congenital or genetic abnormality be diagnosed." Despite thelimitation of Whitehead's right to seek an abortion, the contract allocated responsibility for the child in the event that Whitehead refused to fulfill this part of her agreement: "If MARY BETH WHITEHEAD refuses to abort the fetusupon demand of WILLIAM STERN, his obligations as stated in this Agreement shall cease forthwith, except as to obligations of paternity imposed by statute." Finally, the Whiteheads "agree[d] to assume all risks, including the risk of death, which are incidental to conception, pregnancy, [and] childbirth."
William Stern agreed to pay ten thousand dollars to Mary Beth Whitehead. Although the ten thousand dollars was described as "compensation for services andexpenses" and the contract specifically stated that the fee should "in no way be construed as a fee for termination of parental rights or a payment in exchange for a consent to surrender the child for adoption," it was payable only upon Mary Beth Whitehead's surrender of a live infant. If Mary Beth Whitehead suffered a miscarriage prior to the fifth month of pregnancy, she would receive no compensation. The contract also noted: if the "child is miscarried,dies or is stillborn subsequent to the fourth month of pregnancy and said child does not survive," William Stern would pay Mary Beth Whitehead one thousand dollars. He also paid ten thousand dollars to Noel Keane, for his servicesin arranging the surrogacy agreement.
William Stern's wife, Betsy, was not a party to the agreement, nor was she mentioned by name. The contract referred only to William Stern's wife. The first such reference was in the statement that the contract's "sole purpose . . .is to enable WILLIAM STERN and his infertile wife to have a child which is biologically related to WILLIAM STERN." The other reference stated, "In the event of the death of WILLIAM STERN, prior or subsequent to the birth of said child, it is hereby understood and agreed by MARY BETH WHITEHEAD, Surrogate, and RICHARD WHITEHEAD, her husband, that the child will be placed in the custody of WILLIAM STERN'S wife."
Events did not go according to the contractual script. On 27 March 1986, MaryBeth Whitehead gave birth to a daughter. She named the infant "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead," took her home, and turned down the ten thousand dollars. On Easter Sunday, 30 March, the Sterns took the infant to their home. The baby wasback at the Whitehead home on 31 March; in the second week of April, Whitehead told the Sterns she would never be able to give up her daughter. The Sternsresponded by hiring attorney Gary Skoloff to fight for the contract's enforcement. The police arrived to remove "Melissa Elizabeth Stern" from the Whitehead's custody; shown the birth certificate for "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead," they left. When the police returned, Mary Beth Whitehead passed her daughter through an open window to her husband and pleaded with him to make a run for it.
The Trial Begins
The trial commenced on 5 January 1987, by which time a guardian ad litem had been appointed for the child, known as "Baby M." The Sterns had received temporary custody. Mary Beth Whitehead, who had been ordered by Judge Harvey Sorkow to discontinue breast-feeding the child, had been temporarily awarded two one-hour visits each week, "strictly supervised under constant surveillance . . . in a sequestered, supervised setting to prevent flight or harm."
Skoloff framed the "issue to be decided" as "whether a promise to make the gift of life should be enforced." He stated that "Mary Beth Whitehead agreed togive Bill Stern a child of his own flesh and blood" and emphasized that Betsy Stern's multiple sclerosis "rendered her, as a practical matter, infertile. . . because she could not carry a baby without significant risk to her health."
Harold Cassidy, the attorney for Mary Beth Whitehead, offered an alternativeview in his own opening remarks: "The only reason that the Sterns did not attempt to conceive a child was . . . because Mrs. Stern had a career that had to be advanced . . . What Mrs. Stern has is [multiple sclerosis] diagnosed asthe mildest form. She was never even diagnosed until after we deposed her inthis case . . . We're here," Cassidy summed up, "not because Betsy Stern is infertile but because one woman stood up and said there are some things that money can't buy." A neurologist affiliated with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine testified that Betsy Stern was afflicted with "a very, very, very slightcase of MS, if any."
When the issue of custody was brought up, Skoloff stated that contract law and the infant's best interests dictated that exclusive custody should be awarded to the Sterns: "If there is one case in the United States, where joint custody will not work, where visitation rights will not work, where maintainingparental rights will not work, this is it." He addressed Sorkow directly: "Your Honor, under both the contract theory and the best-interest theory, you must terminate the rights of Mary Beth Whitehead and allow Bill Stern and BetsyStern to be Melissa's mother and father."
Baby M's guardian ad litem, Lorraine Abraham, took the stand to make her own recommendation. She told the court that she had relied, in part, uponthe opinions of three experts in forming her own conclusion: psychologist Dr.David Brodzinsky; social worker Dr. Judith Brown Greif; and psychiatrist Dr.Marshall Schechter. Abraham stated that the experts "will . . . recommend tothis court that custody be awarded to the Sterns and visitation denied at this time." Abraham, required to offer her own opinion as guardian ad litem, added that she was "compelled by the overwhelming weight of [the three experts'] investigation to join in their recommendation."
During Betsy Stern's testimony, she was asked by Randy Wolf, one of Whitehead's lawyers, "Were you concerned about what effect taking the baby away from Mary Beth Whitehead would have on the baby?"
Stern responded: "I knew it would be hard on Mary Beth and in Melissa's bestinterest."
Wolf then said: "Now, I believe you testified that if Mary Beth Whitehead receives custody of the baby, you don't want to visit."
Stern replied, "That is correct. I do not want to visit."
Skoloff next raised questions about Whitehead's fitness as a mother. Whitehead had hidden in Florida with Baby M shortly after the infant's birth, and Skoloff represented this as evidence of instability. He then played for the court a taped telephone conversation between Mary Beth Whitehead and William Stern:
The following day, it was Mary Beth Whitehead's turn to testify. One of her attorneys asked, "If you don't get custody of Sara, do you want to see her?"
Whitehead replied:
Expert testimony followed. Dr. Lee Salk, the influential child psychologist,testified for the Sterns. Already termed a "third-party gestator" in court documents, Whitehead would now be called "a surrogate uterus." "The legal termthat's been used is `termination of parental rights,'" Salk began,
Dr. Marshall Schechter testified, as predicted by Abraham, that he believed custody should be awarded to the Sterns. He declared that Whitehead suffered from a "borderline personality disorder" and that "handing the baby out of thewindow to Mr. Whitehead is an unpredictable, impulsive act that falls underthis category." Then, citing (among other things) that Whitehead dyed her hair to conceal its premature whiteness, he added the diagnosis of "narcissisticpersonality disorder."
Boston psychiatric social worker Dr. Phyllis Silverman refuted Schechter's characterization of Whitehead's behavior as "crazy":
"By These Standards, We Are All Unfit Mothers"
Outside the courtroom, 121 prominent women refuted Schechter's contentions and the "expert opinions" of Brodzinsky and Greif. On 12 March 1987, they issued a document entitled "By These Standards, We Are All Unfit Mothers." The document quoted from each of the expert's testimony and included the New YorkTimes' summary of what commentators called Dr. Schechter's "Patty Cake"test:
Signed by Andrea Dworkin, Nora Ephron, Marilyn French, Betty Friedan, Carly Simon, Susan Sontag, Gloria Steinem, Meryl Streep, Vera B. Williams, and others, the document concluded with the statement that "we strongly urge . . . legislators and jurists . . . to recognize that a mother need not be perfect to`deserve' her child."
When Cassidy made the closing argument on behalf of Mary Beth Whitehead, he reemphasized that Betsy Stern was not, as Whitehead had been told, infertile.He also stressed that termination of parental rights was permitted by law only in the event "of actual abandonment or abuse of the child." Finally, he warned that a ruling in favor of the contract's enforcement would lead to "one class of Americans . . . exploit[ing] another class. And it will always be thewife of the sanitation worker who must bear the children of the pediatrician."
Sorkow announced his verdict on 31 March 1987: "The parental rights of the defendant, Mary Beth Whitehead, are terminated. Mr. Stern is formally judged the father of Melissa Stern." Betsy Stern was then escorted into Sorkow's chambers, where she adopted Baby M.
New Jersey Supreme Court's Opinion
The Supreme Court of New Jersey overturned the lower court's ruling on 2 February 1988. It invalidated the surrogacy contract, annulled Betsy Stern's adoption of Baby M, and restored the parental rights of Mary Beth Whitehead. Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Wilentz said:
The justices then dealt with the issue as a difference between "the natural father and the natural mother, [both of whose claims] are entitled to equal weight." Custody was awarded to William Stern and the trial court was instructed to set visitation for Mary Beth Whitehead.
The court awarded Whitehead visitation on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; every other weekend; and two weeks during the summer. (Holidays were also divided: the Sterns were entitled to Melissa's company on herbirthday, Christmas Day, and Mother's Day, among other occasions.) Since Melissa is now in school during the week, and the Sterns live in New Jersey and Whitehead on Long Island, Whitehead reports that these circumstances have madeit increasingly difficult for her to comply with the court-imposed schedulefor visits with her daughter. In a recent interview, she said she would seekeither a revision of the agreement's terms or move the rest of her family closer to Melissa's other home in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Supreme Court decision prohibited additional surrogacy arrangements in that state unless "the surrogate mother volunteers, without any payment, to act as a surrogate and is given the right to change her mind and to assert her parental rights." Seventeen other states have since adopted similarguidelines.
Surrogate Mothers
In 1978, Louise Brown was born in England, becoming the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since then, over 33,000 babies have been born through surrogacy methods; 7,000 in 1994 alone.
Between 1988 and 1995, the number of women in the United States suffering from infertility problems rose from 4.9 million to 6.1 million; an increase of 25 percent. It is estimated, that of these fertility problems in women, about35 percent can be attributed to blocked fallopian tubes. In the late 1990s, approximately 315 clinics in the United States offered services to infertile couples and individuals; there are hundreds of additional clinics worldwide.
Success rates for in vitro fertilization vary. The Center for Surrogate Parenting, Inc. (CSP) of Los Angeles, California, reported a 78 percent success rate in 1996 for IVF when using a freshly donated egg; the rate dropped to only25 percent when a frozen egg was used. CSP reported a 45 percent pregnancy rate in 1997 for a fresh egg; 20 percent for frozen. A 1989 study suggests about 27.5 percent of clients successfully bore a child using embryo transfer.
Sources
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/971201/box3.html
www.surroparenting.com/ivf.html
www.surroparenting.com/statspg.html
Mary Beth Whitehead
Appellees
William and Elizabeth Stern
Appellant's Claim
That the surrogacy contract was invalid and conflicted with parental rights and adoption statutes.
Chief Lawyers for Appellant
Harold Cassidy, Randy Wolf
Chief Lawyer for Appellees
Gary Skoloff
Justices for the Court
Robert Clifford, Marie L. Garibaldi, Alan B. Handler, Daniel O'Horn, StewartG. Pollock, Gary S. Stein, Robert N. Wilentz (writing for the court)
Justices Dissenting
None
Place
Trenton, New Jersey
Date of Decision
3 February 1988
Decision
The New Jersey Supreme Court invalidated the surrogacy contract, finding it contrary to New Jersey law. It restored Whitehead's parental rights and invalidated Elizabeth Stern's adoption, but granted William Stern custody of the infant.
Significance
This was the first widely followed trial to wrestle with the ethical questions raised by "reproductive technology." This case rejected the legality of surrogacy contracts while eliciting a divided response from feminists. Some asserted the primacy of a mother's claim to her child; others argued that any nullification of the contract would constitute a restriction upon a woman's right to control her own body.
Melissa Stern's conception took place under an agreement signed at Noel Keane's Infertility Center of New York on 5 February 1985. There were three parties to the agreement: Richard Whitehead gave his consent to the agreement's "purposes, intents, and provisions" and to the insemination of Mary Beth Whitehead, his wife, and with the sperm of William Stern. In addition, since any child born to Mary Beth Whitehead would legally be the child of her husband, heagreed that he would "surrender immediate custody of the child" and "terminate his parental rights."
Mary Beth Whitehead agreed to be artificially inseminated and to form no "parent-child relationship" with the baby. She agreed that she would, upon delivery of the child, surrender her parental rights to William Stern; and she further agreed that she would, during the term of the pregnancy, relinquish her right to make a decision about an abortion. She was permitted to seek an abortion only if the fetus was "physiologically abnormal" or if the inseminating physician agreed an abortion was required to insure her "physical health." Mary Beth Whitehead then agreed that it was William Stern's right to require amniocentesis testing and that she would "abort the fetus upon demand of WILLIAMSTERN should a congenital or genetic abnormality be diagnosed." Despite thelimitation of Whitehead's right to seek an abortion, the contract allocated responsibility for the child in the event that Whitehead refused to fulfill this part of her agreement: "If MARY BETH WHITEHEAD refuses to abort the fetusupon demand of WILLIAM STERN, his obligations as stated in this Agreement shall cease forthwith, except as to obligations of paternity imposed by statute." Finally, the Whiteheads "agree[d] to assume all risks, including the risk of death, which are incidental to conception, pregnancy, [and] childbirth."
William Stern agreed to pay ten thousand dollars to Mary Beth Whitehead. Although the ten thousand dollars was described as "compensation for services andexpenses" and the contract specifically stated that the fee should "in no way be construed as a fee for termination of parental rights or a payment in exchange for a consent to surrender the child for adoption," it was payable only upon Mary Beth Whitehead's surrender of a live infant. If Mary Beth Whitehead suffered a miscarriage prior to the fifth month of pregnancy, she would receive no compensation. The contract also noted: if the "child is miscarried,dies or is stillborn subsequent to the fourth month of pregnancy and said child does not survive," William Stern would pay Mary Beth Whitehead one thousand dollars. He also paid ten thousand dollars to Noel Keane, for his servicesin arranging the surrogacy agreement.
William Stern's wife, Betsy, was not a party to the agreement, nor was she mentioned by name. The contract referred only to William Stern's wife. The first such reference was in the statement that the contract's "sole purpose . . .is to enable WILLIAM STERN and his infertile wife to have a child which is biologically related to WILLIAM STERN." The other reference stated, "In the event of the death of WILLIAM STERN, prior or subsequent to the birth of said child, it is hereby understood and agreed by MARY BETH WHITEHEAD, Surrogate, and RICHARD WHITEHEAD, her husband, that the child will be placed in the custody of WILLIAM STERN'S wife."
Events did not go according to the contractual script. On 27 March 1986, MaryBeth Whitehead gave birth to a daughter. She named the infant "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead," took her home, and turned down the ten thousand dollars. On Easter Sunday, 30 March, the Sterns took the infant to their home. The baby wasback at the Whitehead home on 31 March; in the second week of April, Whitehead told the Sterns she would never be able to give up her daughter. The Sternsresponded by hiring attorney Gary Skoloff to fight for the contract's enforcement. The police arrived to remove "Melissa Elizabeth Stern" from the Whitehead's custody; shown the birth certificate for "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead," they left. When the police returned, Mary Beth Whitehead passed her daughter through an open window to her husband and pleaded with him to make a run for it.
The Trial Begins
The trial commenced on 5 January 1987, by which time a guardian ad litem had been appointed for the child, known as "Baby M." The Sterns had received temporary custody. Mary Beth Whitehead, who had been ordered by Judge Harvey Sorkow to discontinue breast-feeding the child, had been temporarily awarded two one-hour visits each week, "strictly supervised under constant surveillance . . . in a sequestered, supervised setting to prevent flight or harm."
Skoloff framed the "issue to be decided" as "whether a promise to make the gift of life should be enforced." He stated that "Mary Beth Whitehead agreed togive Bill Stern a child of his own flesh and blood" and emphasized that Betsy Stern's multiple sclerosis "rendered her, as a practical matter, infertile. . . because she could not carry a baby without significant risk to her health."
Harold Cassidy, the attorney for Mary Beth Whitehead, offered an alternativeview in his own opening remarks: "The only reason that the Sterns did not attempt to conceive a child was . . . because Mrs. Stern had a career that had to be advanced . . . What Mrs. Stern has is [multiple sclerosis] diagnosed asthe mildest form. She was never even diagnosed until after we deposed her inthis case . . . We're here," Cassidy summed up, "not because Betsy Stern is infertile but because one woman stood up and said there are some things that money can't buy." A neurologist affiliated with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine testified that Betsy Stern was afflicted with "a very, very, very slightcase of MS, if any."
When the issue of custody was brought up, Skoloff stated that contract law and the infant's best interests dictated that exclusive custody should be awarded to the Sterns: "If there is one case in the United States, where joint custody will not work, where visitation rights will not work, where maintainingparental rights will not work, this is it." He addressed Sorkow directly: "Your Honor, under both the contract theory and the best-interest theory, you must terminate the rights of Mary Beth Whitehead and allow Bill Stern and BetsyStern to be Melissa's mother and father."
Baby M's guardian ad litem, Lorraine Abraham, took the stand to make her own recommendation. She told the court that she had relied, in part, uponthe opinions of three experts in forming her own conclusion: psychologist Dr.David Brodzinsky; social worker Dr. Judith Brown Greif; and psychiatrist Dr.Marshall Schechter. Abraham stated that the experts "will . . . recommend tothis court that custody be awarded to the Sterns and visitation denied at this time." Abraham, required to offer her own opinion as guardian ad litem, added that she was "compelled by the overwhelming weight of [the three experts'] investigation to join in their recommendation."
During Betsy Stern's testimony, she was asked by Randy Wolf, one of Whitehead's lawyers, "Were you concerned about what effect taking the baby away from Mary Beth Whitehead would have on the baby?"
Stern responded: "I knew it would be hard on Mary Beth and in Melissa's bestinterest."
Wolf then said: "Now, I believe you testified that if Mary Beth Whitehead receives custody of the baby, you don't want to visit."
Stern replied, "That is correct. I do not want to visit."
Skoloff next raised questions about Whitehead's fitness as a mother. Whitehead had hidden in Florida with Baby M shortly after the infant's birth, and Skoloff represented this as evidence of instability. He then played for the court a taped telephone conversation between Mary Beth Whitehead and William Stern:
Stern: I want my daughter back.
Whitehead: And I want her, too, so what do we do, cut her in half?
Stern: No, no, we don't cut her in half.
Whitehead: You want me, you want me to kill myself and the baby?
Stern: No, that's why I gave her to you in the first place, because I didn't want you to kill yourself.
Whitehead: I've been breast-feeding her for four months. She's bonded to me, Bill. I sleep in the same bed with her. She won't even sleep by herself. What are you going to do when you get this kid that's screaming and carrying on for her mother?
Stern: I'll be her father. I'll be a father to her. I am her father. You made an agreement. You signed an agreement.
Whitehead: Forget it, Bill. I'll tell you right now I'd rather see me and her dead before you get her.
The following day, it was Mary Beth Whitehead's turn to testify. One of her attorneys asked, "If you don't get custody of Sara, do you want to see her?"
Whitehead replied:
Yes, I'm her mother, and whether this court only lets me see her two minutes a week, two hours a week, or two days, I'm hermother and I want to see her, no matter what.
Expert testimony followed. Dr. Lee Salk, the influential child psychologist,testified for the Sterns. Already termed a "third-party gestator" in court documents, Whitehead would now be called "a surrogate uterus." "The legal termthat's been used is `termination of parental rights,'" Salk began,
and I don't see that there were any parental rights that existed in the first place . . . The agreement involved the provision of an ovum by Mrs. Whitehead for artificial insemination in exchange for ten thousand dollars . . . and so my feeling is that in both structural and functional terms, Mr. and Mrs.Stern's role as parents was achieved by a surrogate uterus and not a surrogate mother.
Dr. Marshall Schechter testified, as predicted by Abraham, that he believed custody should be awarded to the Sterns. He declared that Whitehead suffered from a "borderline personality disorder" and that "handing the baby out of thewindow to Mr. Whitehead is an unpredictable, impulsive act that falls underthis category." Then, citing (among other things) that Whitehead dyed her hair to conceal its premature whiteness, he added the diagnosis of "narcissisticpersonality disorder."
Boston psychiatric social worker Dr. Phyllis Silverman refuted Schechter's characterization of Whitehead's behavior as "crazy":
Mrs. Whitehead's reaction is like that of other "birth mothers" who suffer pain, grief, andrage for as long as thirty years after giving up a child. The bond of a nursing mother with her child is very powerful.
"By These Standards, We Are All Unfit Mothers"
Outside the courtroom, 121 prominent women refuted Schechter's contentions and the "expert opinions" of Brodzinsky and Greif. On 12 March 1987, they issued a document entitled "By These Standards, We Are All Unfit Mothers." The document quoted from each of the expert's testimony and included the New YorkTimes' summary of what commentators called Dr. Schechter's "Patty Cake"test:
Dr. Schechter faulted Mrs. Whitehead for saying "Hooray!" when the baby played Patty Cake by clapping her hands together. The more appropriate response for Mrs. Whitehead, he said, was to imitate the child by clapping her hands together and saying "Patty Cake" to reinforce the child's behavior. He also criticized Mrs. Whitehead for having four pandas of various size available for Baby M to play with. Dr. Schechter said pots, pans and spoonswould have been more suitable.
Signed by Andrea Dworkin, Nora Ephron, Marilyn French, Betty Friedan, Carly Simon, Susan Sontag, Gloria Steinem, Meryl Streep, Vera B. Williams, and others, the document concluded with the statement that "we strongly urge . . . legislators and jurists . . . to recognize that a mother need not be perfect to`deserve' her child."
When Cassidy made the closing argument on behalf of Mary Beth Whitehead, he reemphasized that Betsy Stern was not, as Whitehead had been told, infertile.He also stressed that termination of parental rights was permitted by law only in the event "of actual abandonment or abuse of the child." Finally, he warned that a ruling in favor of the contract's enforcement would lead to "one class of Americans . . . exploit[ing] another class. And it will always be thewife of the sanitation worker who must bear the children of the pediatrician."
Sorkow announced his verdict on 31 March 1987: "The parental rights of the defendant, Mary Beth Whitehead, are terminated. Mr. Stern is formally judged the father of Melissa Stern." Betsy Stern was then escorted into Sorkow's chambers, where she adopted Baby M.
New Jersey Supreme Court's Opinion
The Supreme Court of New Jersey overturned the lower court's ruling on 2 February 1988. It invalidated the surrogacy contract, annulled Betsy Stern's adoption of Baby M, and restored the parental rights of Mary Beth Whitehead. Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice Wilentz said:
We do notknow of, and cannot conceive of, any other case where a perfectly fit motherwas expected to surrender her newly born infant, perhaps forever, and was then told she was a bad mother because she did not.
The justices then dealt with the issue as a difference between "the natural father and the natural mother, [both of whose claims] are entitled to equal weight." Custody was awarded to William Stern and the trial court was instructed to set visitation for Mary Beth Whitehead.
The court awarded Whitehead visitation on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; every other weekend; and two weeks during the summer. (Holidays were also divided: the Sterns were entitled to Melissa's company on herbirthday, Christmas Day, and Mother's Day, among other occasions.) Since Melissa is now in school during the week, and the Sterns live in New Jersey and Whitehead on Long Island, Whitehead reports that these circumstances have madeit increasingly difficult for her to comply with the court-imposed schedulefor visits with her daughter. In a recent interview, she said she would seekeither a revision of the agreement's terms or move the rest of her family closer to Melissa's other home in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Supreme Court decision prohibited additional surrogacy arrangements in that state unless "the surrogate mother volunteers, without any payment, to act as a surrogate and is given the right to change her mind and to assert her parental rights." Seventeen other states have since adopted similarguidelines.
Surrogate Mothers
In 1978, Louise Brown was born in England, becoming the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF). Since then, over 33,000 babies have been born through surrogacy methods; 7,000 in 1994 alone.
Between 1988 and 1995, the number of women in the United States suffering from infertility problems rose from 4.9 million to 6.1 million; an increase of 25 percent. It is estimated, that of these fertility problems in women, about35 percent can be attributed to blocked fallopian tubes. In the late 1990s, approximately 315 clinics in the United States offered services to infertile couples and individuals; there are hundreds of additional clinics worldwide.
Success rates for in vitro fertilization vary. The Center for Surrogate Parenting, Inc. (CSP) of Los Angeles, California, reported a 78 percent success rate in 1996 for IVF when using a freshly donated egg; the rate dropped to only25 percent when a frozen egg was used. CSP reported a 45 percent pregnancy rate in 1997 for a fresh egg; 20 percent for frozen. A 1989 study suggests about 27.5 percent of clients successfully bore a child using embryo transfer.
Sources
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/971201/box3.html
www.surroparenting.com/ivf.html
www.surroparenting.com/statspg.html
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