Fight for Baby Gets Uglier Yet

The novel legal battle between surrogate mother Anna L. Johnson and the genetic parents of her unborn child took a bizarre turn Monday when Johnson accused the couple of trying to kidnap her baby.

Johnson, 29, issued a stinging attack on Mark and Crispina Calvert, saying the two had sent one of their attorneys to UCI Medical Center late Friday night while she was having contractions to serve her with legal papers and to take her baby. Johnson, whose baby boy is not due until October, went home Saturday morning without having delivered the child.

“The Calverts’ act of attempting to enter my hospital room in the middle of the night while I am lying in pain to serve me with a sham court order is an act of moral depravity,” Johnson said in a prepared statement. “The Calverts, believing the baby was born, were attempting to kidnap the baby from my arms in the nighttime.”

The Calverts’ attorneys, in turn, accused Johnson of trying to have her baby delivered early so that she could give it to another couple to adopt. The Calverts denied they were trying to take the child.

The trading of accusations marked a sudden increase of anger in a situation already brimming with bitterness. The bad feelings spilled into the courts on Aug. 13 when Johnson sued the Calverts, seeking a court order to invalidate the contract the three signed in Januay, when Johnson was implanted with the Calverts’ embryo.

Johnson’s lawsuit marks the first time in the nation that a judge will be asked to decide whether a woman can claim as her own a child she has borne but has no genetic link to. Most other challenges to surrogation contracts have involved surrogate mothers whose own eggs were fertilized by the male partner of an infertile couple.

Johnson had agreed to accept $10,000 for being a surrogate and to surrender the baby to the Calverts at birth. She now claims she should be allowed keep the child because, she argues, the Calverts have neglected her and do not appear to care about their unborn son. The Calverts argue that they have done everything they could for Johnson.

Christian R. Van Deusen, one of the Calverts’ attorneys, said he was told last week that Johnson had been “shopping” for a doctor who would induce labor. Robert Walmsley, another of the Calverts’ attorneys, said he heard at 10:30 p.m. Friday that Johnson had gone to UCI with contractions. Walmsley said he was worried because he had information that Johnson was planning to place the baby with another couple.

When nurses refused to tell him what was going on, Walmsley said, he discussed the matter with the hospital’s attorney and then went to the hospital, where he dropped off a court order saying that the Calverts had been appointed guardians ad litem for the unborn child.

Walmsley said he had no intention of taking the baby, because the order gives him no such authority. The order, granted by a judge in a closed hearing Aug. 15, gives the Calverts the power to represent the baby’s best interests in court but does not confer any custody rights on them, Walmsley said.

Walmsley said he wanted to notify the hospital staff that legal action was pending over the baby in hopes that the hospital might detain the infant until its fate could be resolved in court.

“We wanted to be advised of what was happening,” Walmsley said. “She could check out with the child, and my clients wouldn’t know where she had gone.”

Furious that the guardian ad litem order had been obtained without their knowledge, Johnson’s attorneys, went to court Monday seeking to have it nullified. Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg declined their request, scheduling a Sept. 7 hearing to discuss the matter. Attorneys for both sides said that in the meantime, they would see whether they could agree on someone else to act as guardian ad litem.

Richard C. Gilbert, one of Johnson’s attorneys, said Van Deusen and Walmsley “made up” the story about Johnson’s seeking to have her labor induced early. Gilbert said Johnson had no intention of giving the baby to anyone else and does not intend to flee with the child.

In her statement, Johnson accused the Calverts of “fetal neglect” for putting her under such stress that she suffered the contractions. The Calverts’ attorneys denied that allegation.

Johnson also swore to fight for her child, declaring: “I am not a slave.”

“The Calverts have harassed me, surveilled me and invaded my privacy in inhuman ways,” Johnson said. “This is my baby. I love this baby. . . . My baby must always know that I am his mother. I will never stop fighting for custody of my baby.”

The Calverts’ attorneys have argued previously that Johnson’s claims of fetal neglect have no credibility given the fact that she faces two felony counts of welfare fraud. Johnson is accused of having collected thousands of dollars more in public assistance than she was entitled to. Johnson’s attorney has called the charges a “complete misunderstanding” that stemmed largely from the Orange County Social Services Agency’s own mistakes.