Baby M was the name given to the child in a custody case between the surrogate mother hired to carry her and the child's biological father.
Mary Beth Whitehead, the surrogate mother, was artificially inseminated with William Stern's sperm, as Mr Stern's wife, Elizabeth, was infertile. On March 27, 1986, Whitehead gave birth to a daughter, who she named "Sara Elizabeth Whitehead", and refused to give her up to the Sterns. A New Jersey court awarded custody of Melissa (as the Sterns had named her) to the Sterns in 1987, but this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of New Jersey on February 2, 1988. The Supreme Court awarded William Stern custody and Mary Beth Whitehead visitation rights.
