Surrogate Motherhood: The Challenge for Feminists

Peterson Iver , “Baby M Custody Trial Splits Ranks of Feminists over Issue of Exploitation,” New York Times, Feb. 24, 1987 (quoting Linda Bowker).

Port Bob , “Feminists Come to the Aid of Whitehead's Case,” St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 23, 1987, 1A.

Brief filed on behalf of Amici Curiae, the Foundation on Economic Trends et al., In the matter of Baby M, New Jersey Supreme Court, Docket No. FM-25314-86E (hereafter cited as “Brief”). (The feminists joining in the brief included Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, Gena Corea, Barbara Katz Rothman, Lois Gould, Michelle Harrison, Kathleen Lahey, Phyllis Chesler, and Letty Cottin Pogrebin.)

See, e.g., Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965); Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923); Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1928).

See, e.g., Karst , “The Freedom of Intimate Association,” Yale Law Journal, 89 (1980): 624.

Prior to conception and during pregnancy, the surrogate mother contract is a personal service contract. However, after the child's birth, no further services on the part of the surrogate are needed. Thus, enforcing a provision providing for the father's custody of the child is not the enforcement of a personal services contract. It is like the enforcement of a court order on custody or the application of a paternity statute.

Andrews Lori , “The Aftermath of Baby M: Proposed State Laws on Surrogate Motherhood,” Hastings Center Report, 17 (Oct./Nov. 1987): 31–40, at 37.

In re Baby M, 217 N.J. Super. 313, 525 A.2d 1128, “59 (1987).

Jhordan C. v. Mary K., 179 Cal. App. 3d 386, 224 Cal. Rptr. 530 (1986).

Surrogate Parenthood and New Reproductive Technologies, A Joint Public Hearing, before the N.Y. State Assembly, N.Y. State Senate, Judiciary Committees (Oct. 16, 1986) (statement of Bob Arenstein at 103–4, 125); In The Matter of a Hearing on Surrogate Parenting before the N.Y. Standing Committee on Child Care (May 8, 1987) (statement of Adria Hillman at 174, statement of Mary Ann Dibari at 212 [“the prostitution of motherhood”]).

Surrogacy Arrangements Act of 1987: Hearing on H.R. 2433, before the Subcomm. on Transportation, Tourism, and Hazardous Materials , 100th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 15, 1987) (statement of Gena Corea at 3, 5); Gould Robert , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 233 (slavery).

Morrell Arthur , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 1.

Pierce William , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 2, citing Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe.

Brief , supra note 3, at 19.

Port , supra note 2, at 7A, quoting Phyllis Chesler.

Corea Gena , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 3; Hillman , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 174.

Goodman Ellen , “Checking the Baby M Contract,” Boston Globe, March 24, 1987, 15.

Corea Gena , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 5; Hillman , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987) supra note 10, at 174.

Corea Gena , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 5.

Id.

Id.: 2.

Kane Elizabeth , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 1.

Longcope Kay , “Standing up for Mary Beth,” Boston Globe, March 5, 1987, 81, 83 (quoting Janice Raymond).

Brief , supra note 3, at 14.

Gould Robert , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 232.

Densen-Gerber Judianne , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 253; Gould Robert , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 232.

Gould Robert , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 232.

Hyde Henry , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 1 (“Commercial surrogacy arrangements, by rendering children into chattel, are in my opinion, immoral.”); DiBari , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 212.

Ray John , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 7.

See, e.g., McGuire Maureen Alexander Nancy J. , “Artificial Insemination of Single Women,” Fertility and Sterility, 43 (Feb. 1985): 182–84; Raschke Raschke , “Family Conflict and Children's Self-Concept: A Comparison of Intact and Single Parent Families,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41 (1979): 367; Weiss , “Growing up a Little Fastet,” Journal of Social Issues, 35 (1979): 97.

See, e.g., Rynearson , “Relinquishment and Its Maternal Complications: A Preliminary Study,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 139 (1982): 338; Deykin Campbell Patti , “The Postadoption Experience of Surrendering Parents,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 54 (1984): 271.

Aigen Betsy , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 18.

Arenstein Robert , U.S. Testimony (Oct. 15, 1987), supra note 11, at 9.

Brief , supra note 3, at 30–31.

In re Baby M, 109 N.J. 396; 537 A.2d 1227, 1248 (1988).

See Brief filed on behalf of Amicus Curiae the Gruter Institute, In the Matter of Baby M, New Jersey Supreme Court, Docket No. FM-25314-86E.

Hearing in re Surrogate Parenting: Hearing on S.B. 1429, before Senators Goodhue, Dunne, Misters Balboni, Abramson, and Amgott (April 10, 1987) (statement of Elaine Rosenfeld at 187). A similar argument made by Adria Hillman, N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 175.

Einwohner Joan , N.Y. Testimony (April 10, 1987), supra note 37, at 110–11.

Corea Gena , The Mother Machine (New York: Harper & Row, 1985), 3.

Brief , supra note 3, at 10, 13; Breidbart Judy , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 168.

Cotton K. Winn D. , Baby Cotton: For Love and Money (1985).

Peters Karen , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 121.

In re Baby M, 109 N.J. 396; 537 A.2d 1227, 1253 (1988).

Carey v. Population Services Int'l., 431 U.S. 678 (1977).

Carey v. Population Services, Int'l., 431 U.S. 678, 688 (1976) (citation omitted).

Aigen Betsy , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 11–12.

Hillman Adria , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 177–78.

Leavy Jane , “It Doesn't Take Labor Pains to Make a Real Mom,” Washington Post, April 4, 1987.

Regan Donna , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 157.

Id.

Harrison Michelle , “Social Construction of Mary Beth Whitehead,” Gender and Society, 1 (Sept. 1987): 300–311.

Teasdale Owens , “Influence of Paternal Social Class on Intelligence Level in Male Adoptees and Non-Adoptees,” British Journal of Educational Psychology, 56 (1986): 3.

Regan Donna , N.Y. Testimony (May 8 1987), supra note 10, at 156.

See, e.g., the briefs filed by feminist organizations in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians, 476 U.S. 747 (1986).

See, e.g., Fletcher J. , Coping with Genetic Disorders: A Guide for Counseling (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1982).

Pierce William , N.Y. Testimony (May 8, 1987), supra note 10, at 86. It should be pointed out that kids hassle other kids for a wide range of reasons. A child might equally be made fun of for being the recipient of a kidney transplant or being the child of a garbage man.

M.P. v. S.P., 169 N.J. Super. 425, 438, 404 A.2d 1256, 1263 (Super. Ct. App. Div. 1979).

In re Baby M, 109 N.J. 396; 537 A.2d 1227, 1254 n. 13 (1988), citing In re A. C., 533 A.2d 611 (D.C. App. 1987).

Muller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412, 422 (1907).

See Brief , supra note 3, at 11.