Mary Beth Whitehead

“I gave her life. I can't give her away.”

“What I did I did for love. What they did they did for money.”

“The bond is instantaneous. You can't break that bond. Not for money, not for anything.”

“There are some things in life that are not for sale, and a child is one of them.”

“This was my child. It wasn't their child. It was my child.”

“They call it 'surrogate' mothering, but you can't be a surrogate mother any more than you can be a surrogate human being. I was her mother.”

“A child is not a commodity. A child is not something that can be bought and sold.”

“It was the most painful experience any woman could have. It was degrading, humiliating. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

“I am a mother, and I will be her mother for the rest of my life.”

“I want other women to know what it's like so they don't make the same mistake I did. This is about women's rights.”