When a baby is conceived by two strangers. who gets the baby if the agreement falls apart? According to the Orlando Sentinel (9/16/07), a Central Florida couple is among the latest faced with this wrenching question. The baby, now 4 months old, lives with her biological mother, Stephanie Eckard, while the baby’s father and his wife, Tom and Gwyn Lamitina are in court fighting to take her away.

The case is an example of “traditional surrogacy,” where the woman who carries the child uses her own egg. According to Charlotte Danciu of Delray Beach, one of Florida’s busiest attorneys specializing in this field, this type of case is in the minority, as most situations implant a fertilized egg of the intended mother into a gestational carrier.

In either case, not nailing down parental rights with a legal contact was a big mistake, according to Patricia Strowbridge, an Orlando adoption attorney. With third party reproduction on the rise, this incident speaks to the need for binding legal contacts, whenever someone outside the couple is involved. Unfortunately for the Lamitina’s no attorneys were involved until it was too late, and ultimately, the outcome will be fore the courts to decide.