In re Marriage of Buzzanca
Court of Appeals of California
72 Cal. Rptr. 2d 280 (1998)
Luanne Buzzanca (defendant) and John Buzzanca (plaintiff) arranged for a surrogate to carry an embryo that was genetically unrelated to either of them. Before the child, Jaycee, was born, the couple separated and John filed for divorce, later denying any responsibility for the unborn child. After Jaycee's birth, Luanne filed to be declared the child's mother, and the surrogate also appeared, disclaiming any parental status of her own. The trial court held that Jaycee had no legal parents at all: Luanne wasn't a legal mother because she hadn't given birth, and John wasn't a legal father because he had no genetic connection, and the surrogate and her husband were ruled out too. Luanne appealed.
Whether an agreement between a husband and wife to have a surrogate deliver a child conceived via in vitro fertilization makes the husband the lawful father and the wife the lawful mother, even when the child is genetically unrelated to either of them.