Surrogate Mother

　　Mary Beth Whitehead, living in New Jersey, made a contract with Mr. and Mrs. Stern to be a surrogate mother for them in February 1985. She agreed to be artificially inseminated with Mr. Stern's semen, to carry and deliver a baby, and to form no "parent-child relationship" with the baby. On successful childbirth she would sign a contract of adoption, surrender her parental rights to Mr. Stern, and receive $10,000 as "compensation for services".
　　Mary gave birth to a baby girl in March '86. She was, however, affectionate to this child and changed her mind. She refused to hand over her to the couple, took her to another state. Mr. and Mrs. Stern sued Mary for parental rights. This surrogacy case was named "Baby M", which stood for Melissa, the child's name.
　　In March '87 New Jersey Superior Court ruled the agreement as legal. Mary was denied all rights to the child. Mr. and Mrs. Stern were formally decided as the parents of Melissa.
　　However New Jersey Supreme Court in February '88 declared the surrogacy contract invalid. "The biological father is William Stern, and mother is Mary Beth Whitehead." But Mr. and Mrs. Stern were awarded custody of the child, and Mary, the surrogate mother, the right of visiting her child. This judicial decision was based on "the best interests of the child."
　　In the U.S. surrogate birth has been legally permitted, except in some states, as part of fertilization treatment in case wife has any problem for pregnancy. There are two cases as to surrogate motherhood: in one case, that is called "gestational surrogacy", the genetic embryo of a couple is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate mother who acts merely as a Carrier, in another case called "traditional surrogacy", surrogate mother is inseminated like Mary, who is the biological mother for the baby. The number of surrogate birth has been increasing up to 10,000 for 25 years.
　　In Japan the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology set ethical standards to oppose surrogacy. So many couples make a trip to the U.S. to get surrogate babies.
　　Last week in Nagano prefecture the first case of surrogate birth was reported. In this case the surrogate mother gave birth for her elder sister. The Supreme Court of Massachusetts made the guideline that "a woman who acts as a Carrier has no biological link to the child. It is beyond considerations of parental rights."
　　There has been much trouble between a mother who bears babies and another mother who brings them up in all ages and countries. We know the famous story where a child is pulled by each hand by each mother at the courtyard. The judge declares that a mother who released her hold is a real one.