Surrogate Portrayed as Loving; Daughter’s Testimony Barred

Friends and relatives of the surrogate mother fighting for custody of the baby she agreed to bear for $10,000 portrayed her Friday as a loving mother, but the judge refused to allow her daughter to describe their home life.

Two of the friends of Mary Beth Whitehead testified how her ecstatic reaction in the hours after the baby was born contrasted with the apparently emotionless response of the childless couple who hired her.

Whitehead’s attorneys have said the testimony is designed to show that their client would provide the best home for the 10-month-old known as Baby M.

Portrayed as Cold

The surrogate mother has characterized the biological father, William Stern, and his wife, Elizabeth, as cold, unloving and unable to provide an extended family life for the infant.

Whitehead, 29, agreed to be artificially inseminated with Stern’s sperm and then give up the baby. But she changed her mind about the contract after the birth, setting the stage for a tug of war over the infant.

Witnesses testified Friday that Whitehead’s 12-year-old son, Ryan, had problems in school and she worked hard to help him. But they said under cross-examination that they did not know of her husband’s alcohol problems, a threatened mortgage foreclosure, car accidents or that the couple separated for about a year when the boy was 3.

Sister-in-law Sheri Messer said Whitehead has a loving relationship with her husband, Richard.

‘Work Things Out’

“He’s always there for her, and she’s always there for him and they always work things out,” she said.

Barbara Anderson, a neighbor, testified that when she saw Whitehead at the hospital after giving birth, “she was happy and breast-feeding the baby. The baby was happy. It was just like a mother with her child.”

In contrast, Anderson said, the Sterns looked through the glass window of the hospital nursery but did not show any emotion.

Whitehead’s lawyer, Randolph Wolf, sought permission for his client’s 11-year-old daughter, Tuesday, to testify. But Superior Court Judge Harvey R. Sorkow denied the request.

“The harm to be occasioned to a child permitted to testify is far greater than the probative value of the evidence she will offer,” the judge said.