The Baby M case was never about extortion or money though the Sterns did offer her more to make it all go away. Rick Whitehead, her husband Rick Whitehead had a drinking problem, which was used to discredit him during the trial.
But all-in-all, he was a pretty good guy. He stood by Mary Beth in her desire to keep a child that was not his biologically. He helped her run from the law, and supported her in every way. Their marriage, however, did not survive the trial. Mary Beth met another man, and after their divorce was finalized, she married Dean Gould. Amazingly, Rick Whitehead continued to support her, and they remained close.
Bill and Betsy Stern It is questionable as to whether the Sterns really needed a surrogate mother in the first place. They did everything in their power to make Mary Beth the villain in this situation, in desperation over keeping their baby, much in the same way Mary Beth ran and threatened Bill.
These people sacrificed so much for their daughter, and must have felt so scared and frustrated throughout this entire experience. The biggest thing the Sterns did wrong was not doing their research properly on Mary Beth before proceeding. The fact that they were either unaware of or ignored the psychological evaluation done on her was their downfall. Despite these cases, the fact of the matter is, Noel Kearne approved Mary Beth Whitehead as a surrogate mother when she did not pass a psychological evaluation.
He was told she would have a difficult time giving up the baby, and he did not care. It seemed as though his sole purpose in life was to punish her. He ordered the unprecedented ex parte order, he cut of her parental rights, and performed an on-the-spot adoption for Betsy Stern.
Why such venom? It is unclear why Judge Sorkow did the things he did, but it is clear that he simply complicated and prolonged the situation.
Surrogacy in is nothing like it is today. If the child was born with a health or mental problem, they would receive no compensation and would have to keep the baby. There was limited screening back then of either the surrogate mother or the intended parents, causing many surrogacy issues. There were no laws or regulations in the entire country. The women who became traditional surrogates were often taken advantage of, and were unprepared for the emotions surrounding delivery; both delivery of the baby to the world and delivery of the baby to her new parents.
No support systems existed for surrogacy issues, and there were few people in the nation to talk to. It was a brand new world, and a lot of mistakes were made industry wide.
It was thought at the time that all states would adopt such laws and surrogacy would be illegal in the United States. Luckily, that did not happen. A gestational or traditional surrogate mother is not compensated for delivering a live child. She is compensated for being pregnant, regardless of the outcome of that pregnancy. Now the baby is the legal child of the intended parents usually before she is born, regardless of her health or mental state.
And most importantly, now we take the time to get to know one another better before jumping into the life-changing process that is surrogacy. We take our time to get it right. Baby M, Melissa Elizabeth Stern, is all grown up now. The Sterns entered into a surrogacy contract with Mary Beth Whitehead, a married woman with two children of her own. Her only request was to be sent occasional photos and letters providing updates on the baby. With no issues throughout the pregnancy, Mary Beth gave birth to a baby girl who eventually was named Melissa now infamously known as Baby M.
However, issues arose shortly after. Upon seeing the baby, Mary Beth started having doubts about giving her away. With the Sterns only having Baby M in their care for a few days, Mary Beth demanded the baby back and wanted to renege on the contract.
And so, a bitter court battle began over the legitimacy of the surrogacy contract and who had custodial rights to Baby M. Ultimately, the court granted custody to the Sterns and upheld the contract after a chilling conversation between Whitehead and William Stern was revealed in which Mary Beth threatened to physically harm Baby M.
Upon hearing this, Whitehead was granted no parental rights. However, they also completely voided the surrogacy contract and restored parental and visitation rights to Whitehead. While the courts and lawmakers took a negative view on surrogacy, the case itself shed light on surrogacy as an option to start a family and the rate of surrogacy in the United States rose as a result.
In addition, the Baby M case is still used as a benchmark for other contested surrogacy cases. One such example is the case of Robinson v. Mary Beth lies. These days, surrogacy agreements are probably less emotionally fraught than they were in the s. That's mainly because most people seeking surrogates — often infertile couples and gay men — will take an egg from one woman, fertilize it, and implant it in another woman. While the surrogate might get attached to the baby she's carrying, that child is not biologically hers.
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