Trial Opens in Surrogate Mother Case

A San Diego County woman testified in court Wednesday that she and her husband felt they were being blackmailed by a Mexican woman who agreed to serve as a surrogate mother, moved in with them and bore them a child.

On the opening day of the trial to decide the fate of 8-month-old Lydia Michelle Haro, Natty Haro of Chula Vista claimed that the woman agreed initially to bear the child “as a favor,” then began demanding money as compensation.

“We told her that we felt we were being blackmailed,” Haro, 37, recalled telling a woman acting as an intermediary for the surrogate, Alejandra Munoz, 21. Haro said relatives, a doctor and a lawyer all called to urge her to pay, before Munoz finally went to court.

The case, which began late last year when Munoz sued to regain custody of the child, could result in the first California court rulings on such topical issues as the legality of surrogate-mother agreements and who should have custody when such pacts sour.

Munoz, who speaks no English and has the equivalent of a third-grade education, claims she was misled by the Haros and a mutual aunt into agreeing to serve as surrogate. Her lawyer says she was told her fertilized ovum would be transferred into Natty Haro’s womb in the early stages of pregnancy.

Mario and Natty Haro, a high-school math and science teacher and a bank employee respectively, contend Munoz agreed willingly to bear the child as a favor. Their lawyer claims that an oral contract was in effect and Munoz breached it by going to court.

The case differs sharply from the current New Jersey surrogate-mother case of Baby M in that Munoz and the Haros worked out their agreement without the battery of lawyers, doctors and psychological counselors increasingly involved in surrogate-mother agreements.

Instead, an aunt of Natty Haro and Munoz, who are second cousins but had never met, brought Munoz north from a small village outside Mazatlan, Mexico, in September, 1985, to serve as surrogate for the Haros because they could not have children.

The Haros met Munoz twice that week at the aunt’s house in Tijuana before Munoz was brought illegally across the border. She moved in with the Haros, artificially inseminated herself with Mario Haro’s sperm and gave birth to Lydia Michelle on June 25, 1986.

The only written agreement in the case is a two-sentence pact handwritten in Spanish and signed six weeks into Munoz’s pregnancy. In it, Natty Haro agreed to pay Munoz 840,000 pesos (at the time about $1,500) and Munoz agreed to relinquish all rights to the child.

The Haros’ lawyer refers to the agreement as a contract. Munoz’s lawyer calls it a memorandum.

“You need at least minimum safeguards,” said Munoz’s lawyer, Harvey Berman, who contends surrogate contracts cannot be unsupervised. “You cannot treat a child as chattel and contract it away without the judicial system, attorneys, doctors and social services being involved.”

But Merle Schneidewind, the lawyer for the Haros, countered Wednesday, saying “I don’t think the court has any business in the bedroom. I think (surrogate motherhood) is an easy process and people should be allowed to do it.”

Late last year, Juvenile Court Judge William Pate ruled that there was no constitutional prohibition against surrogate-mother contracts in general. Now, he must decide whether there is a contract in this case and whether it is binding.

On Wednesday, Natty Haro, who is Mexican but has lived in the United States for 25 years, testified that she has an 18-year-old daughter from a previous marriage but that two ectopic pregnancies in 1978 left her unable to conceive.

She said she and Mario Haro, who married four years ago, had tried in vitro fertilization several times. Then in 1985, she said, they mentioned to her aunt, Alejandra Mendoza, in Tijuana that a doctor had told them it would be dangerous to try again.

Both the Haros testified that they never raised the subject of a surrogate and were unaware that such a thing as an ovum transfer existed. They said the aunt said simply she would help them, and two months later she turned up with Munoz and Munoz’s 1-year-old daughter.

Natty Haro said she agreed to go along with what she said was her aunt’s proposal because, “We thought that since it was going to be his genes, and my aunt said this was a cousin of mine, I thought this child would be almost like my own family.”

However, attorney Berman said in an interview that he hopes to be able to prove that Natty Haro had discussed both surrogate motherhood and ovum transfer with others earlier, including her own half-sister, who has since taken the side of Munoz.

Natty Haro said the first difficulties occurred in early November when Munoz threatened to abort the fetus. Though Berman contends Munoz had just learned there would be no ovum transfer, Natty Haro insisted neither she nor her husband had ever mentioned such a thing.

“She told us that if we didn’t give her $5,000, she could easily take the child away and sell it somewhere else,” Natty Haro testified. “We explained we didn’t have that amount. We discussed the amount we could give her.”

Natty Haro testified that her half-sister, Angela Garcia, took the same position: “My sister said if we didn’t pay, my husband could get stuck with paying child support and Alejandra could take the baby away.”

Asked later about Natty Haro’s allegations, Berman said, “It’s just totally untrue.” As for Garcia’s role, Berman said, “She just thinks they were trying to take advantage of Alejandra. She said, ‘Sister or no, I’m going to do what’s right.’ ”

That heated encounter in November produced the agreement that Munoz would receive $1,500 for her services. But shortly after Munoz gave birth, the Haros received a letter from Garcia saying they should pay Munoz $5,000, Natty Haro testified.

She said she received telephone calls from a woman with the Mexican consulate, Munoz’s obstetrician and Berman--all urging she pay Munoz. In August, Natty Haro testified, she and her husband offered a total of $3,500 but Munoz would not accept it.

The fight has split Natty Haros’ family: She testified Wednesday that her mother and her aunt have also sided with Garcia and Munoz. When Schneidewind suggested during questioning that Natty Haro’s mother might be envious of her prosperous life and four-bedroom home, Natty Haro answered that her half-sister has remarked that the Haros are rich.

For the time being, Pate has given custody of the child to the Haros and visitation rights to Munoz three times a week. Munoz lives in a tiny studio in National City with her other daughter. Garcia and other supporters have agreed to pay the $150 rent and food bills.