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26 Ariz. St. L.J. 243 (1994)
Johnson v. Calvert: California Supreme Court Enforces Surrogacy Contract

handle is hein.journals/arzjl26 and id is 255 raw text is: CASENOTES Johnson v. Calvert: California Supreme Court Enforces Surrogacy Contract Robert M. Kort* Modern technology has created a variety of fertilization methods for people who are biologically unable to conceive a child.' The new fertilization methods, however, present several legal issues regarding parental rights. In a surrogacy agreement2 for example, the child's biological mother may not be the intended mother. If the surrogate mother, after giving birth, decides to keep the child, the courts must determine the parental rights of the parties involved in the surrogacy agreement. In Johnson v. Calvert,' the California Supreme Court enforced a gestational surrogacy4 contract.' The court held that the child's biolog- ical mother was the natural mother, and that the gestational mother, or the surrogate, had no parental rights to the child.6 * J.D. candidate, 1995, Arizona State University; B.S., 1991, University of Arizona 1. See e.g., John L. Hill, What Does It Mean to Be a Parent? The Claims of Biology As the Basis for Parental Rights, 66 N.Y.U. L. REV. 353, 355 (1991) (discussing 16 alternative reproductive methods resulting from varying the source of the male gametes, the source of the female gametes, the location of fertilization, and the site of gestation). 2. The term surrogacy agreement' refers to an agreement in which a woman, or surrogate mother, agrees to become impregnated with the intention to relinquish the child to the intended parents after the surrogate mother gives birth. Johnson v. Calvert, 851 P.2d 776, 777-78 (Cal. 1993). The term intended parents refers to the person or couple who initiated the procreative process and intend to raise the child. Id. at 782; Hill, supra note 1, at 356 n.12. 3. 851 P.2d 776 (Cal. 1993). 4. The term gestational surrogacy refers to a particular fertilization technology in which a woman agrees to become impregnated with an embryo formed from another woman's fertilized egg. Id. at 789 n.l (Kennard, J., dissenting). Gestational surrogacy differs from the traditional form of surrogacy, in which a woman uses her own egg to conceive a child for the benefit of the childless couple. Id. 5. Id. at 778. 6. Id. at 787.

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