Books

Books

From A History of Women in the United States: State by State Reference

Meta Berger and the Rise of Feminist Socialism

Wisconsin is known throughout the United States as an incubator for liberal thought and process. Influential radicals such as Eugene Debs and William Foster made their homes in the state, and used its cities to implement their often controversial policies. However, the role of women in Wisconsin political history is often times ignored. One woman, Meta Schlichting Berger, left an indelible mark on the state, and helped to advance the causes of women throughout the country.

Meta, born in 1873, was married to Victor Berger, the four-term socialist Congressman from Milwaukee. Victor was a sworn pacifist and a key player in the socialist movement, serving as editor of the socialist newspaper the Milwaukee Leader.

It was not until her marriage to Victor that Meta became involved in politics. At first, she resisted the urge to become a part of the socialist movement, but in time grew to believe mightily in its causes. Meta was the first woman to be elected as a school board president. She also served as the vice-president of the Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association and played an instrumental part in Wisconsin becoming the first state to grant women the right to vote. She was also active on the national committee of the Woman’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

While a champion for women’s rights, Meta was an astute observer of the culture of masculinity that pervaded the Socialist party in the World War I era. Despite her husband’s progressive politics, he was not pleased with her activism, and encouraged her to accept the traditional domestic role of wife; Meta resisted her husband’s chauvinism by fighting for equal voting rights and education.

Victor passed away in 1929, leaving Meta’s politics to drift further to the left. In 1935, against the wishes of the Socialists, she visited the Soviet Union, and returned relaying a romanticized version of the Soviet socialist experiment. Eventually, in 1940, Meta split from the Socialist party, in part because of their disapproval of her Russian visit, as well as in protest of the sexism that pervaded the group. She remained at odds with the group until her death in 1944.

The Case of Baby M

The decision in Whitehead vs. Stern, better known as the Baby M. case, was a monumental decision in custody law jurisprudence. It set precedent that is the basis for many modern-day custody matters, and marked one of the first occasions where a decision by a court determined the maternal custody of a child.

The baby in question in the case was simply known as Baby M, to protect the child’s anonymity. (It is now known that the child was a girl named Melissa). The case arose out of a 1985 Surrogate Parenting Agreement between William and Elizabeth Stern and Mary Beth Whitehead, in which the Sterns agreed to pay Whitehead $10,000 to bear a child for them (Elizabeth Stern was unable to have children). After becoming impregnated through artificial insemination and giving birth to a girl in 1986, Whitehead, a 29-year-old housewife from Brick Township, N.J., handed over Baby M to the Sterns. She then became upset and even suicidal, and convinced the Sterns to allow her one week with the child. Whitehead proceeded to kidnap the child with her husband and fled to Florida. The Sterns filed suit and the case was litigated until finally ending up in front of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

The Sterns argued that the contract between themselves and Whitehead must be enforced, despite Whitehead’s biological ties to the child. Whitehead was a consenting adult and well aware of the implications of her decision to enter into the contract with the Sterns before she agreed to bear their child. Whitehead argued, however, that the contract denied her of her constitutional rights as a mother to be a companion to her child. She also argued that granting custody of the child to the Sterns was not in the child’s best interest, as a child should be placed with the natural mother if the natural mother is not an insufficient parent.

After making its may through the court system, Whitehead v. Stern was heard in front of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Following a lengthy trial, the Court ruled that the contract between the Sterns and Whitehead was not valid under New Jersey state law. The Court granted Whitehead “unsupervised, uninterrupted, liberal visitation.” Ironically, however, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted custody of the child to William Stern.

Today, Elizabeth Stern is stricken by multiple sclerosis, the disease that prevented her from conceiving children. Melissa, or Baby M, spends time with both the Sterns and Whitehead, but refers to Whitehead as her mother.

This was the first widely followed case that dealt with ethical questions surrounding adoption and reproductive technology and the first occasion that a case involving a surrogate mother attempting to gain custody of the child received national attention. This case has been referenced by many courts since being decided by the New Jersey Supreme Court in February of 1988, and has affected public policy concerning reproductive rights and adoption.