Baby M

Baby M (born March 27, 1986) was the pseudonym used in the case In re Baby M, 537 A.2d 1227, 109 N.J. 396 (N.J. 1988) for the infant whose legal parentage was in question.

In re Baby M was a custody case that became the first American court ruling on the validity of surrogacy. William and Elizabeth Stern entered into a surrogacy agreement with Mary Beth Whitehead, whom they found through a newspaper ad. According to the agreement, Mary Beth Whitehead would be inseminated with William Stern's sperm (making her a traditional, as opposed to gestational, surrogate), bring the pregnancy to term, and relinquish her parental rights in favor of William's wife, Elizabeth. After the birth, however, Mary Beth decided to keep the child. William and Elizabeth Stern then sued to be recognized as the child's legal parents.

The New Jersey court ruled that the surrogacy contract was invalid according to public policy, recognized Mary Beth Whitehead as the child's legal mother, and ordered the Family Court to determine whether Whitehead, as mother, or Stern, as father, should have legal custody of the infant, using the conventional 'best interests of the child' analysis. Stern was awarded custody, with Whitehead having visitation rights.

At birth, Mary Beth Whitehead named Baby M. Sara Elizabeth Whitehead. She was later renamed Melissa Elizabeth Stern, after William Stern was awarded legal custody.

In March 1984, Mary Beth Whitehead responded to an ad placed by the Infertility Center of New York in the Asbury Park Press seeking women willing to help infertile couples have children. She was a high school drop-out who had married Richard Whitehead, a waste collector, with whom she had two children, Ryan and Tuesday.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Stern was not technically infertile, but had multiple sclerosis and was concerned about the potential health implications of pregnancy, including temporary paralysis.

William "Bill" Stern and Mary Beth Whitehead entered into a "surrogacy contract," according to which Mary Beth would be inseminated with Bill's sperm, bring the pregnancy to term, and relinquish her parental rights in favor of Bill's wife, Betsy. The Sterns reportedly made their choice simply by looking at her picture.

According to later terminology, Mary Beth would be considered a traditional surrogate, as opposed to a gestational surrogate, because she was the genetic mother of the child. At the time, the technology for gestational surrogacy was not yet in common use.

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Wikipedia