Baby M was the name given to the child in an American custody case between the surrogate mother hired to carry her, and the child's biological father.
Mary Beth Whitehead, the surrogate mother, was artificially inseminated with William Stern's sperm. Contrary to popular belief (as well as what was stated in the surrogacy contract), Mr. Stern's wife, Elizabeth, was not infertile, but rather there was a possibility she had multiple sclerosis. A medical colleague of hers warned her that his wife, who had multiple sclerosis, suffered temporary paralysis during pregnancy (Steinbock, 1988). On March 27, 1986, Whitehead gave birth to a daughter, who she named "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead", and refused to give her up to the Sterns. A New Jersey court awarded custody of Melissa (as the Sterns had named her) to the Sterns in 1987, but this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of New Jersey on February 2, 1988. The Supreme Court awarded William Stern custody and Mary Beth Whitehead visitation rights.
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References
- Steinbock, Bonnie. "Surrogate Motherhood as Prenatal Adoption." Law, Medicine, and Health Care. v. 16, no. 1 (1988). pp. 44-50.
