Mary Beth Whitehead

“You cannot contract to sell a baby. If they legalize this contract they may soon start bringing poor women in from other countries just to be breeders.”

“He considers me just a uterus with legs.”

“Nature's laws have to supersede man's law.”

“People come out of prison and aren't treated like I've been treated. I didn't kill anybody. I didn't violate anybody's rights. My rights were violated. Nobody likes to be hated, but the whole world hated Mary Beth Whitehead.”

“Being a mother comes first for me. Before my husband, before this surrogacy crusade, before myself. I don't see myself as particularly strong.”

“I try not to pass judgment on anyone, and I wish they wouldn't pass it on me.”

“I gave her life, I can take life away.”

“People wanted me to be like the Madonna, the white nun, you know, and that's not me. But I'm no villain.”

“Out of the ashes of Sara Whitehead rose Melissa Stern. Out of the ashes of Mary Beth Whitehead, there were pieces lost.”

“I have great sympathy for people that are infertile, but a life is not something you can give away.”

“Women just weren't made to bear children to give them away.”

“I'm not perfect. I've made mistakes. I'd do a lot of things different if I could. I'd never, ever, get involved with surrogacy again. It's so weird.”

“I don't particularly like being pregnant. I like the baby at the end. Pregnancy is a very distant thing for me. I can't seem to believe there's really a baby there. It's such a miracle.”

“I'm this high school dropout. I quit in my sophomore year, when I was 15. I worked for a while in a deli, and when I was almost 17, I got married.”