Wynona+&+Tina

In July 2014, an internationally publicised incident occurred in which a Thai woman, Pattaramon Janbua, who had been hired as a surrogate mother for an Australian couple, sought to raise money for her critically ill surrogate son. The baby had been in her care s ince she gave birth in December 2013; biological parents David and Wendy Farnell had left Thailand that month with baby Gammy's twin sister Pipah. When ultrasound results seven months int
 * 2014 Thai/Australian Surrogacy Controversy **

 birth mother. The Farnells returned to Australia in December 2013, bringing baby Gammy's twin sister Pipah with them. o the surrogate pregnancy indicated that Ms Pattaramon was carrying twins and that one of the twins, a boy, had Down Syndrome, the Farnells requested that she abort him, and that they would keep only the child's twin sister. Ms Pattharamon refused, citing her Buddhist beliefs, and instead opted to raise the boy (named Gammy) on her own. Thai surrogacy laws dictate that a child's legal mother is its

In response to the controversy, Thailand authorities reportedly banned surrogate babies from leaving the country with their parents. Hu ndreds of foreign couples were reported to have been affected. A law was also drafted making paid surrogacy a criminal offense in Thailand.

In re Baby M was a custody case that became the first American court ruling on the validity of surrogacy. William and Elizabeth Stern entered into a surrogacy agreement with Mary Beth Whitehead, whom they found through a newspaper ad. According to the agreement, Mary Beth Whitehead would be inseminated with William Stern's sperm (making her a traditional, as opposed to gestational, surrogate), bring the pregnancy to term, and relinquish her parental rights in favor of William's wife, Elizabeth. After the birth, however, Mary Beth decided to keep the child. William and Elizabeth Stern then sued to be recognized as the child's legal parents.
 * Baby M **

The New Jersey court ruled that the surrogacy contract was invalid according to public policy, recognized Mary Beth Whitehead as the child's legal mother, and ordered the Family Court to determine whether Whitehead, as mother, or Stern, as father, should have legal custody of the infant, using the conventional 'best interests of the child' analysis. Stern was awarded custody, with Whitehead having visitation rights.

At birth, Mary Beth Whitehead named Baby M. Sara Elizabeth Whitehead. She was later renamed Melissa Elizabeth Stern, after William Stern was awarded legal custody.