Baby M Judge Says Surrogate May Sell Story

Surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead may sell book or movie rights to the Baby M story but should not be allowed home visits with her daughter while a custody fight is being appealed, a judge ruled Friday.

Bergen County Superior Court Judge Harvey Sorkow denied a request for an order barring Whitehead from cooperating in or profiting from book or movie projects on the case, saying any attempt to muzzle Whitehead would violate her constitutional rights.

But Sorkow also rejected Whitehead’s request that her once-a-week, two-hour supervised reunions with the 14-month-old girl at a county youth facility be expanded into unsupervised weekend visits at Whitehead’s home.

Decision in March

Sorkow in March turned down Whitehead’s bid to reclaim custody of the child, which she conceived by artificial insemination and bore for a New Jersey couple under a surrogate motherhood contract.

Whitehead, who refused to accept a $10,000 surrogacy fee, is appealing to the state Supreme Court Sorkow’s decision upholding the contract and stripping her of all legal rights as the parent. The high court has agreed to hear the case in September.

Lawyers for the child’s father and adoptive mother, William and Elizabeth Stern, argued Friday that new publicity would be harmful to Baby M, known legally as Melissa Elizabeth Stern.

“I’m afraid she may see her name on a bookstore shelf or a movie marquee,” William Stern said. “It will make it more difficult for her to explain to her friends who she is and what happened.”

Whitehead’s lawyer, Robert Ruggieri, said his client has not signed any book or movie deals, but is working with a writer to get her memories and feelings on paper while they are fresh.