the problematics of motherhood in twentieth century women's fiction

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6.7.1. The 'Baby M' case should be mentioned in this
context In this instance, a woman, Mary Beth Whitehead,
contracted wlth a man, William Stern, to be artlflclally
inseminated with his sperm, carry a baby to term, and
deliver it to hlm upon blrth, for a fee of ten thousand
dollars However, the mother changed her mind, refused the
fee, refused to deliver the baby, and fled with her husband
and children. A hlghly publlclsed custody battle ensued in
whlch the judge allocated the baby to Stern and hls wife, an
upper mlddle class couple, stripping the contractual mother,
who belonged to the worklng class, of ail parental rlghts
(Elchler 1988 294) The 'Baby M' case provldes strong
evldence that publlc, ludicla1 and leglslatlve accomodation
lags considerably behlnd the sclentlf:~ and soclal reailty
reflected In the reproductive alternatrve Wlth the
commerclalrzatlon of chlldbearlng and the separation of
motherhood Into genetlc, uterlne and socla; motherhood, a
problematic qcestlon whlch arlses 1s In the case of
confllcr, who would be recognized as the legal mother - the
genetlc mother, the uterlne mother or the soclal mother' If
the ckld 1s produced through AID and egg donation, who 1s
legally the parent' The semen donor, the egg donor, or the
soclai father and mother? In AID, technically lt 1s
irrelevant whether an egg is fertilized wlth the semen of
the husband of the woman lnvolved or wlth somebody else's