Debating the Ethics of Surrogate Pregnancy - Wombs for Hire

From the time capsule: When a child is born to a surrogate mother, who does the court system recognize as the legal parent? That was the question posed in New Jersey's highly-publicized "Baby M" case in 1988.

The Baby M custody case 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, 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.

As Marcus Jones reports, just days after the New Jersey ruling against Whitehead was announced, advocates for and against surrogacy debated the ethics of the practice at Boston University's School of Law.