Last night, they did a show on Luanne, John, and Jay Cee Buzzanca. As an adoptee I really feel for Jay Cee. She is going to want to know her truth. I watched it twice last night. Then I have googled the news stories about the case.
Jay Cee was conceived using reproductive technology and surrogacy. John and Luanne were married and were unable to conceive. So in 1994, they both signed a surrogacy contract. The interesting part is that their marriage was falling apart. Luanne begged John to sign the contract on the condition that he would not be financially responsible. He didn't want to be a father to this child. He very honestly wanted his marriage to be over so that he could move on with his life. The only reason why he signed the contract for Luanne was because he felt sorry for her.
Well it gets more complicated after this. The surrogate mother was Pam Snell. She had done this a few times before with no complications. She also gets paid $17,000 after medical expenses. Before the contract was even signed, she was pregnant. Weeks before Jay Cee was due, John had filed for divorce. John's attorney proceeded to send a letter to Pam advising her of the situation. Luanne put a hold mail on Pam's address to keep Pam from finding out about it. The letter came the week of the due date. Luanne says that she wanted to tell Pam herself instead of getting that letter. In the mean time, Luanne kept reassuring Pam that everything was fine with her marriage.
After Jay Cee was born, Pam was told. Luanne promised Pam that she would adopt Jay Cee as a single parent. Pam waited a year before she filed as the parent of Jay Cee. Surrogate mothers have that right to contest the adoption. Luanne then filed for child support for Jay Cee from John. After six months Pam backed out of the parental right suit. The trial court had decided that both John and Luanne were not the parents. That John didn't have to pay child support. It was appealed by Luanne. She has won the right to be called mother. John is now forced to pay child support. He has appealed it several times and lost.
I understand both sides of the issue. I don't want John to be looked at badly. You would think this is complicated enough. It gets worse.
Does anyone remember the scandal of the Fertility Clinic of University of California Irvine? Enter Erin Davidson. She is the egg donor in Jay Cee's case. Up until this time no one even knew who the biological side of this was. Erin is obviously someone who met with the future parents of her children(her eggs). So she wasn't into the anonymous side of egg donation. This fertility clinic had harvested 17 eggs, intended to be used in only one procedure. That is what she wanted. The father and the adoptive mother wanted the same thing. They were also upset that this had occurred to them. Sadly they didn't have a case because they had signed paperwork donating the embryos for someone else's usage. They too could have had a say in this case if this paperwork had not been signed.
Neither Pam nor Erin will ever do this again. They are done because they have been burned with the complications of this case and the fertility case. All of the parties involved except maybe Luanne believe that we need to make changes to this system. I fully understand the need to have a child but in my mind Luanne took it too far. The entitlement oozed from her. All I can say is that I feel sorry for Jay Cee when she becomes an adult and realizes what has transpired in her behalf. Fortunately Pam, Erin, and the anonymous couple will all be there for her if she should have questions.
One of the good things that I have learned from my own state representative is that the financial incentive will be removed when the new president takes office. There will no longer be paid donor egg/donor sperm. It will be treated as an organ transplant. A bill is in the works to put a stop to this. It will put a stop to the monetary gain in the fertility business. This is one area where I am proud of both my state legislator and my U. S. Senator. This will be a nationwide bill presented in Congress in the years ahead.
1 comment:
Amy, so Jay Cee was conceived with a donor egg (Erin's) and her genetic father's sperm. She was then placed for adoption/donation as an embryo and placed with Luanne, who had a surrogacy contract with Pam? Very complicated.
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