In the five years since Mary Beth Whitehead-Gould attracted national attention by refusing to relinquish custody of the child she had borne as a surrogate mother, efforts to curb the baby-bearing industry have been gaining momentum nationwide.
Last month, New York became the 18th state to sharply restrict the practice, as legislators who call it baby selling outvoted those who see it as a legitimate last hope.
In many ways, the debate in New York was even more emotional than most because the surrogacy business has been most active there.
Similarly, the reaction in New York has been fiercer. Brokers, infertile couples and potential surrogates are vowing to find loopholes in the new law, sign their contracts in other states, or, if necessary, go underground to have their babies.
Studies have estimated that 40 percent of all surrogate births in the country have been in New York.
And a report released in the spring by the state's Department of Health estimated that 4,000 infants have been born in the United States through surrogacy arrangements, at a cost of $33 million to contracting couples.
Surrogacy as it currently exists in the United States is made possible by brokers whose business it is to match infertile couples with women willing to be surrogates. The couple pays a fee of about $16,000 to the broker in advance, between $10,000 and $20,000 to the surrogate after the birth of the baby, and all expenses not covered by the surrogate's medical insurance, everything from maternity clothes to plane fare.
Under New York's law, which Gov. Mario M. Cuomo signed last week, it would still be legal for a woman to carry a baby for another couple, but the payment to the broker and to the woman would be illegal and the contract would not have legal standing in court. Only the payment of medical expenses would be allowed. A broker who accepts a fee faces a fine of $10,000 for a first offense. The couple who pays the fee and a surrogate who accepts it face $500 fines.
"The purpose was to eliminate the practice of commercial surrogacy," said Anna Maria Cugliari, a spokesman for the Governor's Task Force on Life and the Law, which drafted the basic legislation.
Critics of surrogacy say their primary objection is that a baby is being "sold" for a $10,000-to-$20,000 fee.
"The reality is that money is being exchanged for a child," said Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, D-Brooklyn, who sponsored the bill.
