The Nation - News from Feb. 3, 1988

The New Jersey Supreme Court is expected to issue its long-awaited ruling in the Baby M case today, deciding whether the surrogate mother who bore the girl under contract or the father and his wife will get custody. There was no indication how the court will decide the dispute. Mary Beth Whitehead-Gould, who was artificially inseminated and bore a baby under $10,000 contract, visited briefly with the toddler and said her outlook for the outcome was “very good.” The lower court decision March 31 by Superior Court Judge Harvey Sorkow awarded custody to the father, William Stern, and his wife, Elizabeth. It was the nation’s first trial on a broken surrogate contract and had the effect of creating state law on the issue because no New Jersey statute directly addresses the matter.