Pair Duped Her on Surrogate Mother Pact, Woman Tells Court

A young Mexican woman testified in court Thursday that a San Diego County couple misled her into serving as a surrogate mother by promising that after she carried the embryo just three weeks it would be transplanted into the other woman’s womb.

Alejandra Arellano Munoz, 21, testified tearfully that Mario and Natty Haro of Chula Vista then reneged on the deal and duped her into signing a two-sentence statement that they now claim is part of a binding contract for surrogate motherhood.

She said that when she informed them late in her pregnancy that she intended to keep the child, they ignored her, believing that because they had brought her illegally into the United States she would be unable to fight for custody.

“I told Mario, ‘I’m going to do everything I can to take that daughter away from you and see her,’ ” Munoz testified through an interpreter in Superior Court here. “Mario said, ‘You’ll sink.’ Then I said, ‘We’ll both sink because I want to see my daughter.’ ”

Embryo Transplants

Munoz’s testimony contrasted sharply with that of the Haros, who testified Wednesday and Thursday morning that they had never mentioned embryo transplants and that Munoz had willingly signed the contract agreeing to accept $1,500 for her services.

The Haros charged that they were being blackmailed by Munoz.

Munoz gave birth to a daughter last June 25. For the time being under a court ruling, the Haros have custody of the child and Munoz has visitation rights.

The case, which may lead to the first California state court rulings on the validity of surrogate contracts, began in 1985 when a mutual aunt of Munoz and Natty Haro suggested that Munoz serve as a surrogate mother for the Haros, who were unable to have children.

Mario Haro, a 33-year-old high school science teacher, and Natty Haro, a 37-year-old bank employee, arranged to have Munoz and her daughter brought across the border. She moved into their home and artificially inseminated herself with Haro’s sperm.

Munoz, who is unmarried and worked as a cleaning woman in her hometown near Mazatlan, testified Thursday that she agreed to serve as surrogate because her aunt and grandmother told her that Natty Haro was a cousin and because they said it would only take three weeks.

“Because she was my cousin and since my grandmother told me we were family and it would be fine,” she said repeatedly in response to questioning by the Haro’s lawyer as to why she consented.

‘Going to Help Me’

Munoz said of Natty Haro, “She told me she was going to help me with something, and I trusted her because she was my blood.”

But about six weeks into her pregnancy, Munoz said she believed that she had been “betrayed” and threatened to abort the fetus. On her aunt’s advice, she said, she decided against it and resolved to carry the child.

Munoz testified that after the fight, the Haros persuaded her to sign a statement that they never read to her. She said she was scared and upset when she signed it and never saw the document again.

The document is a two-sentence statement, handwritten in Spanish, stating that Natty Haro would give Munoz 840,000 pesos ($1,500 at the time) after the birth of the child and that Munoz would relinquish all rights to the baby.

“They were the ones that did the paper,” Munoz testified. “I never asked for a penny.”