Surrogate Gives Birth to Boy, Custody Fight

Surrogate mother Anna L. Johnson gave birth to a boy Wednesday, more than two weeks ahead of schedule, triggering a frenzy of activity by lawyers who are warring over the child’s future.

Johnson, 29, and the 6-pound, 10-ounce infant were both reported to be doing well Wednesday evening at St. Joseph Hospital after a relatively short labor and uncomplicated delivery at 1:50 p.m.

In a brief interview, the Garden Grove woman told The Times she was “tired,” but declined to say more.

“It’s extremely uplifting,” said attorney Richard C. Gilbert, who is representing Johnson in her custody fight against the baby’s genetic parents. “It’s really something. Even in the middle of this mess, it’s still so exciting. Anna is in heaven.”

Johnson, who was implanted with an infertile couple’s embryo, is the first surrogate mother to demand parental rights and custody even though she has no genetic link to the child she carried.

William Steiner, the baby’s guardian for legal purposes, rushed to the hospital when he heard Johnson was in labor and ordered officials there not to release the child until a judge decides who will have temporary custody, said Harold F. LaFlamme, the infant’s court-appointed lawyer.

Custody arguments, originally set for Sept. 27, were hastily rescheduled for Friday. Johnson’s due date was Oct. 6.

Under Steiner’s orders, the hospital will “treat the baby as if he has three parents,” allowing frequent visits by Mark and Crispina Calvert, the couple who hired Johnson to carry their baby for $10,000, LaFlamme said. The Calverts visited the hospital Wednesday night, bearing a bunch of red roses.

When LaFlamme heard Johnson was about to deliver, he raced to court and obtained an order forcing immediate DNA testing of the baby to confirm its parentage, he said.

In the maternity ward there were many signs that this baby was born into a legal and emotional firestorm. Hospital personnel and a security guard patrolled outside Johnson’s room, fearful of a media onslaught. Telephone calls to her room were halted. Drapes in the nursery were drawn to prevent photographs being taken of the baby.

Question marks hung over everything from his future to his name. The infant’s birth certificate is going to remain blank for the time being, said Robert Walmsley, one of the Calverts’ lawyers. Nurses and doctors dubbed him “Baby Boy Johnson,” but Anna Johnson has chosen to call him Matthew. Crispina Calvert said they want to name the child Michael Christian, an homage to Christian R. Van Deusen, Walmsley’s law partner.

Before she received word she could visit the baby, Crispina Calvert sat quietly at home.

“I’m still so shaky,” she told The Times. “I’m real excited, but I’m also worried. I know in my heart that he’s our baby, but there’s still the question, what if we don’t win? What if we don’t get him?”

Calvert, 36, said that she and her husband, Mark, 34, will have to rush to finish decorating the baby’s room in their Orange County home. They bought a crib and chest of drawers, but once the legal battle heated up it became too difficult to continue, she said. Now she wants to buy a changing table and finish wallpapering the room with bright Disney characters, she said.

Times staff writer Gebe Martinez contributed to this report.