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6 St. Thomas L. Rev. 191 (1993-1994)
The Aftermath of Johnson v. Calvert: Surrogacy Law Reflects a More Liberal View of Reproductive Technology

handle is hein.journals/stlr6 and id is 197 raw text is: THE AFTERMATH OF JOHNSON v. CALVERT: SURROGACY LAW REFLECTS A MORE LIBERAL VIEW OF REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY I. INTRODUCTION' On May 20, 1993, the California Supreme Court became the first state high court to declare that gestational surrogacy2 contracts do not violate the U.S. Constitution, state law or public policy interests, likely changing the way our nation and its courts will view surrogacy ar- rangements in the future. The story began with a married couple, Mark and Crispina Calvert, who desired to have a child. Although Crispina was able to produce an ovum or egg,4 she was without the ability to bear children herself due to medical problems resulting in a mandatory hysterectomy several years earlier.5 After hearing the Calverts' dilemma, Anna John- son, a licensed nurse and single mother, approached the Calverts and offered to serve as a surrogate.6 At that time, gestational surrogacy, though still a relatively new procedure, was proving to be quite effec- tive and had the benefit of producing a child genetically linked to both intended parents: the husband's sperm and wife's egg are fertilized in a lab - in vitro fertilization7 - producing an embryo, which is then 1. The definitions of medical terminology discussed within this Comment are taken from BRUCE L WILDER, AMERIcAN BAR ASSOCIATION SECTION OF FAMILY LAw, DEFINING THE LEGAL PARENT-CHILD RELtInONSHIP IN ALTERNATIVE REPRODUCtIVE TECHNOLOGY (1991). 2. A surrogate is a female who acts as a gestational host, in whom a pre-embryo devel- ops into a newborn baby. Id. at 29. The surrogate provides gestation for an embryo in place of the woman who intends to be the mother of the child who is born as a result of that gestation. Id. 3. Johnson v. Calvert, 851 P.2d 776 (Cal. 1993). 4. The female ovum or egg is scientifically referred to as a gamete - a cell produced by reproductive organs of a living organism and containing one half of the genetic material found in a living cell of that organism, which can combine with a gamete from another organism of the opposite sex to produce a cell that is uniquely different from that of either parent organism. The male gamete is known as a spermatozoon. WILDER, supra note 1, at 29. 5. Johnson, 851 P.2d at 778. 6. Id. 7. In vitro fertilization means literally, in glass, and refers to some biological process which usually takes place within a living organism (i.e., in vivo), occurring outside the organ- ism (as in a test tube). WILDER, supra note 1, at 29. In vitro fertilization refers to the union of male and female gametes outside the woman's body. Id.

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