William Stern entered into a surrogacy agreement with Mary Beth Whitehead, arranged by the Infertility Center of New York ("ICNY"), opened in 1981 by a Michigan attorney, Noel Keane.
Mary Beth initially relinquished the child to the Sterns per the contract, but returned the next day, threatening to kill herself if she could not see the infant.
He failed to notice that a trailer carrying a full-sized bulldozer had detached from the large dump truck he was driving, as he passed through South Jersey's largest traffic circle.
In court, Bill Stern testified that having a child who was related to him by blood was of particular importance because he is the last survivor of a family wiped out by the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
[9] The Whiteheads claimed that Mary Beth was suffering a debilitating post-partum bladder infection at the time, but in fact they kidnapped Baby M and fled from New Jersey for Florida.
"[10] On March 31, 1987, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Harvey R. Sorkow formally validated the surrogacy contract and awarded custody of Melissa to the Sterns under a "best interest of the child analysis".
Judge Sorkow enforced the contract (signed by both parties before the child was conceived) and terminated the parental rights of the birth mother.
He based the custody decision on the best interests of the child, taking into account testimony on the stability of Whitehead and Stern and their respective family situations, and also found that the surrogate parenting agreement was valid and enforceable.
[11] Whitehead's parental rights were terminated and Elizabeth Stern was taken into chambers immediately after the ruling was read to formalize the adoption.
While on appeal, the Supreme Court of New Jersey continued the visitation schedule as it was during the initial trial while they considered their ruling.
Whitehead took several actions either to claim the child, or incite the Sterns, including returning her wearing a hand-lettered shirt saying "I have a brother and sister.
[5] Mary Beth and her ex-husband Richard sued ICNY and its founder, Noel Keane, claiming they committed fraud in the Baby M contract.
After reaching the age of maturity in March 2004, Melissa Stern legally terminated Mary Beth's parental rights and formalized Elizabeth's maternity through adoption proceedings.
[21] She completed her master's degree at King's College London, authoring a dissertation entitled 'Reviving Solomon: Modern Day Questions Regarding the Long-term Implications for the Children of Surrogacy Arrangements'.