Surrogate Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Take Case

SANTA ANA —  Continuing a long legal quest, Anna M. Johnson has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether she has parental rights as a surrogate mother to a 2-year-old Tustin boy.

Attorney Richard C. Gilbert, arguing that his client has been the victim of a “shameful collapse” of the judicial system, said Sunday that a petition was mailed to the nation’s high court early last week.

“I think we have an excellent chance if the court takes the case,” Gilbert said. “We think this is our court. But the big question is whether they will take the case.”

The court could decide by this fall whether Johnson’s claim will be accepted for review.

The new appeal comes less than two months after the California Supreme Court ruled that Mark and Crispina Calvert were the legal parents to Christopher Michael Calvert.

The state court ruling was the first in the nation to decide whether the woman who provided the ovum or the woman who gave birth was the natural mother of a child.

Johnson, a nurse, carried the fetus for the childless couple for a $10,000 fee, then changed her mind and sought to keep the baby. The child has lived with his genetic parents since birth.

Gilbert said his petition alleges in part that California state judges, as members of local and state bar associations, exhibited bias against Johnson because those associations supported positions against surrogate parental rights.

“Every judge or justice who has heard this case is a member, fund-raiser or leader of a private interest group which openly advocates that Anna Johnson should have no rights as a parent,” Gilbert said. “This is a shameful collapse of due process. We have spelled this out in great detail in our petition to the court.”

Neither the Calverts nor their attorney, Robert Walmsley, could be reached for comment Sunday.