In Re Baby M

In In Re Baby M, 109 N.J. 396, 537 A.2d 1227 (1988), Mr. and Mrs. Stern entered into a contract with Mrs. Whitehead who agreed, for a fee of $ 10,000, to be artificially inseminated with Mr. Stern's sperm and, upon giving birth, terminate her parental rights so that Mrs. Stern could adopt the child. Id. at 412, 537 A.2d 1227. Litigation ensued when Mrs. Whitehead refused to give up the baby. Id. at 415, 537 A.2d 1227. The Court, in an opinion written by Chief Justice Wilentz, ruled that the surrogacy contract was void because it was contrary to public policy and in direct conflict with then existing laws. Id. at 421-22, 537 A.2d 1227. The Court found that there was "coercion of contract" because Mrs. Whitehead was forced to give up her child irrevocably prior to conception. Id. at 422, 537 A.2d 1227. Justice Wilentz wrote that "(t)he whole purpose and effect of the surrogacy contract was to give the father the exclusive right to the child by destroying the rights of the mother." Id. at 436, 537 A.2d 1227.