Monday, September 8, ,1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 5
Baby M custody battle to set precedent for surrogate law
GOODMAN from Page 4
What is notable about this custody wrangle is
its utter predictability. This was, everyone in the
field will agree, a case waiting to happen.
When the first stories written about surrogate
motherhood made their way into the media, it
sounded as if the biological mother suffered
nothing more damaging than stretch marks. It
sounded as if surrogate mothers were just an
easy helpmate for the infertile. But there was
always that question hovering in the air: "What if
she changed her mind?"
Could the biological mother be held forcibly
to a contract for the sale of her egg and use of her
womb? If she reneged, could the biological
father demand back his money or his genes? If
she changed her mind, what would happen to the
baby?
The sad human part of this drama is that
neither the Whiteheads nor the Sterns predicted
her emotions. "I was completely devastated hav
ing the child taken from my arms," Mary Beth
wrote after t he fact, "I felt like I was used for one
purpose and was no longer needed or wanted."
This was exactly what she had promised: to be
no longer needed or wanted. But it is something
a person can promise?
I don't know how the courts will deal with this
question. There is very little law governing sur
rogacy so far. The technology of parenthood has
run far ahead of the courts.
It is possible, assuming blood tests confirm
Mr. Stern's fatherhood, that they deal with it as a
contract case, testing whether it is legal to make
such a deal and illegal to break it. They may deal
with it as a straight custody dispute.
I do not believe that anyone should be able to
sign away parental rights before they have even
borne the child. A baby is not a piece of goods,
and human emotions do not make for neat con
tracts. But at the very least, a mother should
have a matter of days after delivery to change her
mind. If she does, she should have an equal right
to custody.
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Ir.trrvSr.v tin-ups tor
Bidding for companies scheduled to
be on campus the. week of Sept. 22
through 28 takes place today in the
main lobby of the Nebraska Union from
8 a,m. to 5 p.m.
Organizations recruiting
Sept 22-26
Company Majors Sought
3M Chem.E,E.E.,I.E.,M.E.
Black & VeatchCE., E.E., M.E.
Boeing M.E., E.E.
Burroughs All business majors
EDS M.E., E.E., I.E.
GalloWine Speech Comm., Bus.
Adm., Mkt, Mgt.
I.T.T. FinancialActuarial Science
NE Financial
Group Ag, A & S, Bus., Educa
tion, Home Ec.
Westinghouse E.E., M.E. - . '
East Campus students:
Save yourself a trip! A CPPC repre
sentative will be in the East Union
every Monday from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
Updates for on-campus interviews will
be available as well as bid cards. Bids
for interviews will be accepted at this
location.
Job listings:
Did you know that more than 30,0(10
jobs were advertised in the CPPC office
last year? Don't limit your job search to
on-campus interviewing. Most of our
employers never come on campus. We
have listings in such fields as federal
government, social sciences and Higher
Education.
Counselors in demand:
More than over 300,000 rehabilita
tion counselors will be needed by 1990,
according to a recent government study.
Only 1,000 graduates per year complete
a master's degree in rehab counseling,
Interview tip:
Employer research is one of the keys
to successful interview selection and
preparation. Visit our extensive library.
CAREER INFORMATION DAY
Thursday, Sept. 25!
Does that muddy any agreement for surrogate
motherhood? Does that increase the risks for
couples who want a child this way? Absolutely. A
biological father could end up without even vis
itation rights.
But the opposite scenario is more unsettling.
If a mother can legally turn over the rights to her
womb, then the ethic of marketplace has won.
Pregnancy becomes a service industry, and
babies are a product for sale.
I do not know what the end of this story will be
for Baby M. I suspect that the M stands for Messy.
The Sterns, the Whiteheads, the baby have
formed an emotional triangle. But they have also
become the stars of a cautionary tale about the
surrogate motherhood industry itself. Be wary of
people with contracts in their hands who prom
ise a real easy deal on a brand-new baby.
1986, The Boston Globe Newspaper Company
Washington Post Writers Group
Goodman is a Pulitzer prize-winning columnist
for the Boston Globe.
I" 113 i. jt j yfj
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V v
T'Sc- Spend fit minutes with a r
From grade
point averages to
grad school appli
kationsto preparing v
for the (gasp) real world,
there's one thing that
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education.
The higher the educa
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competition. j
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