In Re Baby M, 31 March 1987.
The plaintiffs, the natural father of a child born as the result of a surrogate parenting agreement and his wife, sought an order forcing the natural mother of the child to surrender the child to them, restraining the natural mother from interfering with their custody of the child, and terminating her parental rights so that they could adopt the child.  The Court ruled that the surrogate parenthood contract should be enforced and granted the order sought by the plaintiffs. It also rejected a request by the maternal grandparents for visitation rights and ruled that joint custody was not appropriate and that the adoption laws did not apply to surrogate parenthood contracts.  It stated that its decision was based solely on contract principles and what was in the child's best interests, holding that the contract was not unconscionable or voidable for fraud and that the constitutional right to procreation extends to the use of surrogates.
D000300:Adoption; D000569:Americas; D001519:Behavior; D002655:Child Custody; D002668:Child Rearing; D019049:Developed Countries; D007603:Jurisprudence; D009515:New Jersey; D009656:North America; D012098:Reproduction; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D013533:Gestational Carriers; D014481:United States
Adoption--legal aspects; Americas; Behavior; Child Custody--legal aspects; Child Rearing; Court Decision; Developed Countries; New Jersey; North America; Northern America; Reproduction; Reproductive Technologies; Surrogate Mothers--legal aspects; United States