Baby Brokers

I was deeply disturbed by "The Baby Brokers." I am amazed by the arrogance of the infertile couples--and the agencies and lawyers who cater to them--who assume they are entitled to children. They even speak for the natural mother, claiming her grief disappears in a few weeks. Research shows the grief of surrendering a child to adoption is unresolvable--and even increases with time for most women. Helpless mothers are manipulated out of their babies, discarded and then spoken for by the very people who exploited them.

Our son's birth mother chose adoption as soon as she discovered that she was pregnant and attempted to work with a public adoption agency. The baby was shuffled among five different foster homes while the adoption worker "counseled" the mother on her decision. The "counseling" culminated when the worker returned the baby to its mother and told her, "I'm sure you'll change your mind when you see how cute he is!" Devastated, the mother flew to California, where non-agency adoption is legal, and chose us to adopt her baby.

With the exception of Cathie and John Kanuit, the names of biological mothers and adoptive parents have been changed. PEOPLE COME to this Beverly Hills lawyer's office looking for the advantage in tragedy. Laura Taylor is 20 years old and seven months pregnant, a wistful, wide-eyed blonde with a honeyed Tennessee drawl. She had never been on an airplane in her life until two days ago, when she flew to Los Angeles to meet D.

With the exception of Cathie and John Kanuit, the names of biological mothers and adoptive parents have been changed. PEOPLE COME to this Beverly Hills lawyer's office looking for the advantage in tragedy. Laura Taylor is 20 years old and seven months pregnant, a wistful, wide-eyed blonde with a honeyed Tennessee drawl. She had never been on an airplane in her life until two days ago, when she flew to Los Angeles to meet D.

Commercial surrogate-mother contracts should be banned and criminal penalties should be imposed against surrogates and baby brokers, a special New York task force organized by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo has recommended, according to the Washington Post. Cuomo's Task Force on Life and the Law said it wanted to end the business of "making money from birth and human reproduction." It did not recommend outlawing all surrogacy, only that in which brokers and surrogates earn substantial fees.