A Baby with Two Mothers?
Recently, Judge Richard Parslow of Orange County Superior Court ruled that Mark and Crispina Calvert are the only parents of a baby boy who was delivered of Anna Johnson, the birth mother. In other words, the fertilized egg from the Calverts was scientlifically implanted into the womb of Johnson who nurtured and carried the child to birth. This resulted in two mothers: the genetic mother (Calvert) and the birth mother (J ohnson). The judge decided that having three parents would be too traumatic for the child so he cut off all parental rights of Anna Johnson. The judge reduced her role to that of an incubator or babysitter with only the possibility of future visitation rights . The real and only parents of the child , he held , were the Calverts. In other words, the judge tried to resolve a reality of nature by a legal fiat of his word attached to a piece of paper. This, of course, was and is absurd. Only God creates by His word . Everyone else has got to deal with what is. It was absurd because no legal fiat can change nature . In this case, Anna Johnson was a real mother for nine months . The bonding process began when the fertilized embryo was implanted into her womb. She carried and nurtured the child for nine months and then experienced the trauma of real birth of her child . The child, in a valid sense, could be no one's child but hers. That is why she fought for parental rights and visitation, but not for custody. In this she was absolutely correct and the judge wrong: she was the child's parent just as much as Crispina Calvert and perhaps more. Given the situation (for better or for worse), she should have been given parental and visitation rights . But the judge was also correct in another sense. The new fertility technologies have completely changed the delicate balance of nature and biology. In this case, three parents created a fissure in the historical, genetic and human chain which will be difficult for the child to live with. Considering the best interest of the child, the judge tried to reduce the child's future trauma by mandating as "normal" a family life as possible. The judge's intent was well placed; it's just that it was impossible for him to repair or rather, to unite what had been irremediably torn asunder with