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Judge rules sperm donor not on hook for child support
Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2016-11-30 06:07
Article here. Excerpt:
'A Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad to donate sperm so two women could have a baby together is not legally the child's father and isn't required to provide financial support, a Kansas judge has ruled.
The state Department for Children and Families had not decided as of Tuesday whether it would appeal last week's ruling by Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi. The department sought to force William Marotta to pay child support for the girl born in December 2009.
Mattivi last year required Marotta to submit a DNA sample to confirm that he was the girl's biological father and declared he was not "a mere donor of sperm." But the judge's Nov. 22 ruling concluded that birth mother's former partner should be considered the child's second parent rather than Marotta, in part because he has had minimal contact with the girl.
The department filed a petition in 2012 to have Marotta declared the child's legal father and require him to pay child support after the women, birth mother Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer, separated and Schreiner received assistance from the state. The department initially sought to reclaim about almost $6,100 in expenses associated with the child's birth.'
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Comments
Let it be a warning
First, I'll say, do not donate sperm even through an agency. You have no idea when the law will suddenly change on you and before you know it, your agreement with the agency is null and you're stuck. But if you really feel the overwhelming need to donate sperm, always go through an agency with medical supervision. Answering an ad on the Internet does nothing to protect you from who-knows-what kind of legal ruling or statute that may deal with this sort of thing. No, it matters not that you didn't have sex with the mother. All the law cares about is the legalities of the details.
Really, there are much easier ways to make a few hundred bucks that are far less dangerous to you. Why anyone donates sperm, I could not say. I just don't see why you'd do it. But that's just me.
Fathering in the US, Canada and Australia
Fathering in the US, UK, Canadian and Australian Family Law. More like animal husbandry. Just rub a child up and down a likely male and presto. Thats all it takes.
Naw, its not about the meal ticket!
The other edge to the sword
I feel the same way about this as I feel with regard to Sweden's new law that allows men to opt out of father hood (if a man does not want the woman to go through with the birth, he has the right to opt out).
Both this court decision and the Swedish law weakens the notion of fatherhood (as much as it may ostensibly appear to help men).
A father is a father -- and that is the end of the story.
The very word itself should be as inviolate as the definition of mother.
Once we go down the slipperly slope of weakening the definition of a father, I fear men will lose even more rights.
Be careful what you wish for.
I think as a society we all
I think as a society we all have to look at how far we should go to help some one become a parent and what amount of responsibility should be placed on those who have a role in creating the child. I am speaking about surrogates, donors, doctors, partners, etc.
Take for example the doctor who helped Octomom conceive after she already had multiple children and she had no education and no real career. IMO, at the very least he should be shamed for his role as it was totally irresponsible on his part.
In forming an opinion about the OP situation, here are some things I have learned about the case:
>The lesbian couple took out an add for sperm donor on Craigslist
>The man answered the add, and donated his sperm several times. From the information I have gathered it appears this occurred at the women's home, not at a clinic, no doctor was involved.
>After birth the man had some contact with the child and, he was given updates on the child
>The two women have 8 children together. From what I can tell, this child was their 7th child.
>Neither of the two women wanted to name the father, but felt forced to by the state. The state demands to know the father when a parent seeks financial help (welfare).
>Both mothers support the father's legal battle to get out of paying child support.
IMO, like the dr. who helped Octomom have more children, this man "helped" a couple with an already large brood have more; and now all of these 8 kids need help from taxpayers. At the very least, I think he should be shamed!!
I'll say it again
He's a father, therefore he must be punished.
That's what our system does.
Thomas, I tried to google
Thomas, I tried to google that law in Sweden, and best I can tell it was filed, but never enacted. It was filed by a group called "Liberal Youth of Sweden" who are not taken very seriously. They also filed to make incest and necrophilia legal (as best I can tell, that has not been enacted into law either).
I read several articles about the financial abortion law. Articles were from from March-April of 2016 as there was nothing more current and nothing to describe the details like how a woman would have to inform the man. One article also indicated that 3 female Liberal Youth members aged 17-20 were responsible for drafting and filing the "law".
I agree with you: "be careful what you wish for". Sweden seams to be going down hill.
Has hell frozen over?
Kudos to this judge. I'm genuinely shocked she made this ruling as it goes against the feminist domineering mainstream everything, but thrilled that she did. Not often you see a man who has donated sperm left off the hook for anything, let alone the transfer of his wealth to a woman. This judge deserves a statue. Sadly I'll be serious money on the state appealing the decision and some idiot female chauvinist on a higher court over-turning the decision. However, maybe this is a first step.