European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 17, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 20 the stars and stripes tuesday june 17. 1980 surrogate mothers controversial solution to infertility by Anna Quindlen new York times n a world totally devoid of value judgments and preconceived notions it might seem the natural Solu Tion to a problematic situation. A couple wants to have a child he is Able to father one but she cannot conceive. One obvious answer is to have another Wom an inseminated with the husband s sperm and Bear a child for the couple. Thai is the obvious answer in a different world than our own. In fact. The question of surrogate mothers which has recently surfaced As some people s solution to the problem of infertility is fraught with Legal moral ethical and per Sonal complications. Some people think it is perverse disgusting a variation on the Black Market traffic in adoptable children that could Lead poor women to offer wombs for  Sec Ilas the solution to a torment they believed had no answers. Still others believe it May be a viable idea whose Lime has not yet come. At the Center of the controversy is a Young infertility specialist. Or. Richard Levin a Man who speak rather breezily of this Resolution in childlessness. When asked about the "1984" Aura he replies it s Only four years  no matter what the Date there Are still Many questions about the surrogate Mother system a system that Levin who practices in Louisville ky., says he is the first physician in the world to  As he has developed his system a woman who has already had children and who wishes to act As a Surro Gate signs a contract stipulating that she will turn the child she bears Over to its biological father in return for her medical and Legal expenses and some compensation. The Man and his infertile wife will become the parents of the child the contract provides for the wife to legally adopt the  things now stand with the four women who Are pregnant through the program the parties will never meet and it is this anonymity As Well As the detailed contracts signed by the parties that Levin says will Safe guard All concerned. He says that he chooses surrogates very carefully after a barrage of physical and psychological tests an that Only married women who already have children Are considered. Surrogate motherhood is not new it has been prac tired tilth variations by childless couples for some Lime. Perhaps the earliest known instance is in the Bible Abraham s wife Sarah sends him to Hagar her egyptian maid saying it May be that i May obtain children by  today there Are couples who find and hire another woman to Bear a child for them either through insemination or actual Intercourse with the husband. There Are those who have a Friend or relative do the same thing. One Long Island n.y., couple who do not want their names used because few know about their arrangement have two children both borne by the wife s  Are Clear risks in this the possible psychological damage to a child who discovers that his aunt is in fact his Mother the danger of a family feud that could result in a custody fight. We were willing to take our chances said the Long Island couple. Lenin said of surrogate motherhood without anonymity some Day she May show up at your door wanting the baby  but some experts argue that Levin s program is not much safer. The doctor himself admits that if she chose a Surro Gate could decide to keep her baby leaving the Man whose sperm was used for insemination with two obvious Legal alternatives sue for breach of contract or for simple  Levin has said thai he has talked to lawyers and judges who believe the court would consider the contract and award custody to the father some Legal authorities believe a contract such As the one Levin s surrogates sign would not please the court especially with Money  Are they say Laws in nearly All states forbidding the Sale or Purchase of babies the question is clearly whether surrogates Are Selling their services or their children. Levin Hopes to Settle that question by having a measure introduced before the Kentucky legislature that would Sanction surrogate motherhood with proper con  would t consider this buying a baby i d consider this buying a receptacle so i m not sure that Yon would have a problem with the compensation per be said san Ford Katz a professor at Boston College Law school and chairman elect of the american bar association s family Law  i know of no court that would be sympathetic to a contract involving babies. The court would say that such a contract was opposed to Public  Are not the subject of contracts. But the biological father clearly could sue for  most recently Katz said a Michigan court was called upon to Render an opinion in the Case of a nameless couple and their potential surrogate Jane and John Doe and Mary Roe in court papers who wanted Legal affirmation of their right to fashion a contract stipulating the surrogate arrangement. They challenged the constitutionality of Laws forbid Ding certain kinds of compensation in the adoption of children. The court ruled that those Laws were perfectly proper adding the evils attendant to the mix of Lucre and adoption proceedings Are  indeed criticisms of Levin usually involve the ques Tion of compensation. Levin said that the fee paid a surrogate is in compensation for her potential loss of income loss of consortium with her husband pain and suffering and potential risk of  he said that the figure involved would depend upon circumstances that if he had a Good surrogate candidate some people. See it As the solution to a torment they believed had no answers. Others believe it May be a viable idea whose time has not yet  who wanted $25,000 and a couple who were willing to pay that he would be Likely to match them up. If a surrogate wanted $100.000, Well to be real Frank with you i think a baby is Worth $100,000," Aid Levin who has four children of his own. But i would not use a woman if the figure was too  Levin said that thousands of childless couples have called or written his office since his program was publicized several months ago and that he has been approached by Many women eager to be surrogates. But those who Deal with the infertile As physicians and Counselor say they know few couples anxious to take the surrogate Mother route. Clearly troubled by its ramifications b Barbara meaning founder of resolve an organization of about 3,500 couples with Fertility problems which b wrestling with the decision of whether to refer individuals to Levin. Many people Are still concerned about the murky Legal status and Are waiting to see whether it will become accepted practice said Menning the Mother of three adopted children who says that she would not have considered using a surrogate herself but might have tried in Vitro fertilization the so called test tube baby method. I think right now they look at adoption As Legal safer and preferable to getting involved in something that might fall through she said. We care very deeply that the couple not be damaged by pinning their Hopes on something that will not  Menning says that her organization has received Only a few queries about surrogate mothers and or. Wayne Decker director of the new York Fertility research foundation which performs artificial insemination said that that had been his experience As Well. It certainly has t been the kind of response we ret with i d Vitro fertilization said Decker. We get one of those a min Ute. I think people think it s too far out added Decker whose organization does not provide such services. They can accept something that Only has to do with themselves but to bring in a third person in that kind of Way seems unacceptable. I Don t think its time is Here yet although we were hearing about it 25 years ago when we were first starting artificial insemination which at that time were kind of sub a themselves. But it la be Here in time. People Are willing to do almost anything to have a  and what i the babies when they Are Growa and told of the brn Subj circumstances of their birth us about and this Levin said that All of the couples he has paired with surrogates will Tell their children about their surrogate mothers and that he suspects that they will be Over whelmed at the depth of their parents desire to have them. Menning is not so sure. It just seems to me she said that it i be pretty hard to  it s the father s child. / am simply growing it for him new York times he is the kind of Mother whose Home has become snack bar Bath room play place for All the neigh boyhood children the kind of Wom an who goes to Church every sunday and turns to a when she is Trou bled. She lives in a Small town where every one knows and passes judgment on everyone else s affairs. Her husband it a Well to do businessman whom she cays she loves very much. But tic woman who Calls herself Elizabeth Kane is pregnant with an other Man s child and she believes ii to one of the Best things she has Eter done later life. Kane who has been using a pseudonym since she became a Public Symbol of the surrogate Mother movement is four. Months pregnant through artificial insemination by a Man she has never met whose name and whereabouts she does not  has signed a contract saying that when she gives birth she will turn the baby she delivers Over to that Man and his wife for an undisclosed amount of Money she said she had never considered the possibility of keeping the child herself. "1 never think of it As mine said Kane her voice warm. It s the father s child. I am simply growing it for  Kane says she has always wanted to do something like this because of the number of people she has been close to whose lives have been blighted by their childlessness. Last year she saw a Small item about or. Richard Levin and his plans to match sur Rogate mothers and childless couples in her local paper and immediately wrote and asked to be considered As a surrogate. The Mother of three children of her own she had to coir face her husband who had a Vasectomy several years ago that she was doing the right thing. He was initially shocked then won Over by the depth of her feeling although he is supportive now there have been some difficult times. The Day i was inseminated said Kane who new to Levin s Louisville office for the procedure it was a strange feeling in bed that night watching Johnny car son there were three in the bed  since then Kane s life has changed considerably. She has done talk shows and interviews and although Levin has been criticized by other doctors for such Public Ity Kane said that it was necessary to get the word out to other childless couples that this might be an alternative for them. She has also been Cut off from her family and Many of her friends who consider what she has done to be adultery of a Hei Nous sort. One woman invited Kane to her Home then announced that she was going to go straight to hell. She accused me of Selling my body. That really shocked  she insisted that she meter wanted to be Aid for her services but was con Vinced that if others were being compensated that she should be too. But Kane said that she understood some of the negative responses. I m a rather narrow minded person myself she said and if someone else was doing this i might feel the same  nevertheless Elizabeth Kane said that if she had it to do Over again she would and that if this baby was miscarried or born dead she would be re inseminated to give the couple she is paired with a child. However since she is 38 Yean old she said that she planned that this would be her last pregnancy if All goes Well. She Sec her Stutt at so Rogale As harking Back to a Flat line be people helped one other. Nowadays it seem that everybody isso me oriented she said. People just Aren t used to helping anybody. I think it great that a woman with a healthy body can help a woman who does t have  3a