Johnson v. Calvert
Supreme Court of California
851 P.2d 776 (1993)
Unable to have children themselves, the Calverts (defendants) contracted with Johnson (plaintiff) to serve as a gestational surrogate, implanting her with an embryo created from the Calverts' own genetic material; the contract designated the child as the Calverts', with Johnson to relinquish all parental rights in exchange for $10,000 in installments and a life insurance policy. After disputes arose, Johnson, before the child's birth, threatened to withhold relinquishment unless paid the remaining balance, prompting a parentage suit; the child was born and temporarily placed with the Calverts with Johnson receiving visitation, the parties stipulated the Calverts were the genetic parents, and the trial court ruled the Calverts were the legal parents, the surrogacy contract was enforceable, and Johnson had no parental rights or visitation, a ruling the court of appeal affirmed.
Whether the genetic mother is the natural and legal parent of a child under California law, and whether, in a conflict between a child's genetic and gestational mothers, the natural mother is the one who intended to bring about the child's birth and to raise the child as her own.