Surrogate Case Draws Fire From Those Sick at Heart, Sick of Suits

I am sick at heart for Anna Johnson, and outraged by the decision handed down by Judge Parslow. Crispina Calvert’s claim to the baby is no stronger than the traditional paternity suit made by a man not living with the birth mother of a child.

If he could prove he had a genetic link to the child, he would be entitled to visitation rights. Physical custody of the infant would be granted to the birth mother.

Judge Parslow clearly considered the case on a purely intellectual basis. We are talking about a baby here, not the sale of some commodity! He obviously has no understanding of the physical and emotional bonds that develop between a mother and her baby during pregnancy. To be physically one with another human being for nine months, to feed and care for it and, finally, to go through the birth experience with it creates an attachment unlike anything he has ever experienced.

Having your heart ripped out would be the closest thing I can think of to what it would feel like to lose a child at this point. The Calverts have an intellectual interest in the baby; Anna has the physical and emotional bond of a mother.

Why would Judge Parslow have concluded that the contribution of an egg in this case is any greater than the male’s contribution of sperm, which has historically entitled the father to visitation rights, not physical custody of the infant!

SUSAN LIECHTY, Huntington Beach