Future of Surrogate Births Could Be at Stake in Trial

The contract between a surrogate mother and a couple who paid her $10,000 to bear their child should be declared invalid because “some things money can’t buy,” the mother’s attorney argued Monday as a custody dispute went to trial.

Attorneys for both sides have said the suit to determine the validity of that contract and custody of the 9-month-old girl could affect the practice of surrogate motherhood nationwide.

Recalled Sister’s Pain

Attorney Harold J. Cassidy portrayed his client, 29-year-old Mary Beth Whitehead, in opening arguments as a caring, sensitive woman who wanted to help the couple after she saw the pain of her sister, who could not bear children.

“But, at the same time, those sentiments that Mary Beth Whitehead had are what made it impossible for her to give up her baby,” Cassidy said.

Whitehead agreed to bear a child for William and Elizabeth Stern of Tenafly through artificial insemination with sperm from Stern.

But, when her baby was born on March 27, Whitehead refused to accept the $10,000 fee and fled with the infant to Florida, where authorities later found her and returned the child to the temporary custody of the Sterns.

Countering Cassidy’s plea to void the surrogate contract, the Sterns’ attorney, Gary Skoloff, told Superior Court Judge Harvey R. Sorkow that “the promise of the gift of life should be enforced.”

Skoloff said Whitehead knew she would have to give up the child.

“The truth of the matter is there is no one in this courtroom who didn’t understand the agreement,” he said. “It was only immediately after the baby was born that Mary Beth Whitehead changed her mind.”

Feared Paralysis

It was disclosed Monday that the Sterns hired a surrogate mother because Elizabeth Stern has multiple sclerosis. She feared that because of the disease she could become paralyzed or die if she tried to bear a child, her husband said.

Sorkow is to decide first whether the contract is valid, and then who should be given custody of the child.