Couple to Share Custody of Girl With Surrogate

Ending one of the first court cases of its kind in California, a Chula Vista couple and a Mexican woman who is the surrogate mother of their child agreed Monday to share custody of the baby girl.

Although both sides expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached before Superior Court Judge William Pate, neither gained a total victory.

Mario and Natty Haro had sought sole custody of 8-month-old Lydia Michelle Haro, and her natural mother, Alejandra Munoz, had hoped for a more generous shared-custody arrangement.

Under the agreement, the Haros will retain primary physical custody of the girl, and Munoz’s current thrice-weekly visitation rights will gradually be increased later this year. Beginning in August, Munoz will be allowed to keep her daughter for overnight stays every other Friday.

“We feel good, because this basically keeps things the same way,” said Mario Haro, who agreed to pay Munoz $50 a month in child support. “We didn’t lose anything.”

Munoz’s attorney, Harvey Berman, expressed disappointment that his client did not receive additional overnight visitation rights.

Munoz said she is pleased.

“I feel fine. This is all being done for the good of Lydia,” Munoz said in Spanish after Monday’s hearing.

Viewed at its outset as a potentially precedent-setting case on various legal questions relating to surrogate births, the trial apparently will have little effect outside this case, because it was settled before Pate could rule.

Describing the four-day legal battle as “a unique case in many ways,” Pate said he believes that Monday’s settlement is “in the best interests of the child.”

“When we got down to the bottom line . . . the basic precepts of the law are what prevailed,” the judge said. “The court must see that the best interests of the child prevail.”

‘We’ll Live With It’

Pate instructed both sides to try to reach agreement on shared custody for 1988 and beyond by the end of this year. If such an agreement has not been reached by Dec. 24, Munoz’s attorney can file another suit seeking to modify visitation terms.

“We’ll live with it and just get more and more time . . . as time goes on,” Berman said of the agreement.

Merle Schneidewind, the Haros’ attorney, said, however, that he anticipates “no major changes” in the custody terms after December, “because you can’t take an 18-month-old baby and flip-flop it all around.”

One major uncertainty that could affect future custody concerns Munoz’s immigration status. She entered the United States illegally and has been ordered to leave by April 22. Berman said he hopes that Monday’s agreement will bolster her efforts to remain in this country or to extend the deadline.

Aunt’s Suggestion

The controversial case had its origins in 1985, when a mutual aunt of Munoz and Natty Haro suggested that Munoz be a surrogate mother for the Haros, who are unable to have children.

Mario Haro, a 33-year-old high school science teacher, and Natty Haro, a 37-year-old bank employee, subsequently arranged for Munoz and her young daughter to move from a small village outside Mazatlan, Mexico. Munoz moved into the Haros’ home, was artificially inseminated with Mario Haro’s sperm and gave birth to Lydia Michelle on June 25, 1986.

The Haros contended that Munoz willingly agreed to bear the child in return for $1,500. Munoz said, however, that the Haros originally told her that her fertilized ovum would be transplanted into Natty Haro’s womb, then reneged on the deal and duped her into signing a statement giving them custody.