Some NJ Surrogate Kids Born Motherless

GIBBSBORO, N.J. - There's a baby in New Jersey with no legal mother. The spot for a mother on his birth certificate has been left blank.

How is this possible? Reproductive science has just gotten ahead of the law, Fox 29's Karen Hepp reported.

This is a boy who came to life by an egg from an anonymous donor and was carried by a surrogate mom.

A New Jersey appeals court has just ruled the intended mom must adopt the boy as a stepparent and, until she does, she has no legal standing. She's not his mom. In fact, he's got none at all – not the egg donor, not the surrogate, and not her.

Every other baby born under these circumstances will also have no mother, according to their birth certificates and the law.

It seems unfathomable. And, as surrogacy becomes more and more common, we thought this was in issue worth exploring.

On Wednesday, Fox 29 News visited a family that thinks this new ruling is simply crazy and isn't keeping up with the modern world we know live in now.

Gretchen Gallagher's journey to mom was filled with every tragic, heartbreaking thing that can possibly go wrong when you struggle for years to make a family.

Her angel is Christine Abrahims, a mother of four with a calling.

"I believe we're given a heart and a gift, and my gift is to help a family, whether it's through having a child or to help in some way, but I believe God gave me this gift," Abrahims said. "Not everybody can do it."

They were together in the delivery room and every step along the way, on the long road there, from a first miscarriage to this miracle – triplets, two girls and a boy – the family Gallagher had dreamed, prayed for, and cried and cried about.

"I think it's beautiful," she said. "I think it's an amazing experience. I would not have my children without them. I would not."

The two princesses and prince are now 3-years-old. Gallagher didn't want them on camera, but she wants everyone to know how important surrogacy is. Her children were created with her egg and her husband's sperm, so she is their legal mother.

But she's concerned for so many other infertile couples who need a surrogate to create a family.

According to a recent ruling, if they use an anonymous egg donor, those babies legally have no mother at all unless they're adopted. She believes intended moms should be able to be listed on birth certificates without having to adopt.

Gallagher is deeply troubled by the recent ruling.

"They're very simple, everyday people that are using this as a tool to have a family. I think it's a very beautiful process,"

It's an issue that's almost certain to head to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

Attorney Lou D'Onofrio said on the Fox 29 News at 10 Wednesday that the Parentage Act in New Jersey is old and needs to change.