In 1988, the plight of surrogate mother Mary Beth Whitehead put a spotlight
on the womb-for-hire business and its leglity. Whose child was Baby M? Her natural mother's or William and Elizabeth Stern's, who held the contracr?
(Wiliam was the natural father through artificial insemination.) ABC would help
the nation decide with a four-hour, $6 million docudrama. Since neither the
Whiteheads nor the Sterns would cooperate, ABC used court transcripts,
published accounts, and psychiatric evaluations made public with court records. Of
course, the obligatory disclainer preceding the telecast notes that "certain scenes
and dialogue are interpretive of this material."
stories they tell.