BABY M CASE
The case involving the surrogacy of "Baby M" opened in Superior Court in Hackensack on January 5, 1987. Commercial surrogate mother, Mary Beth Whitehead, agreed to be artificially inseminated and carry a child for William and Elizabeth Stern. Upon delivery of the baby, she was to be paid $10,000. Whitehead gave birth to a girl she named Sara on March 27, 1986, and on April 12 Whitehead told the Sterns she would not give up the baby, whom they named Melissa Elizabeth Stern.
Judge Harvey Sorkow was asked to decide the legality of the surrogacy agreement and to award custody. The trial was the first of its kind to explore legal and ethical issues raised by reproductive technology. After a long trial, Sorkow terminated Whitehead’s parental rights and allowed Elizabeth Stern to adopt Whitehead and William Stern’s biological child.
The New Jersey Supreme Court on February 2, 1988, partially overturned the verdict and ruled that a fit mother cannot be forced to give up her child, even with a signed contract. William Stern was still awarded custody, but his wife’s adoption of Baby M was invalidated and Whitehead won parental rights. When Melissa Elizabeth Stern turned 18, she began the process of allowing Elizabeth Stern to adopt her, terminating Whitehead’s parental rights.