Ronnie Coleman of Arlington, VA, has just won a legal case saying that as a sperm donor he isn’t legally responsible for the child support he’s been paying for the last five years. That couldn’t happen in the UK, could it?
In 2006, Coleman donated through a California sperm bank to a longstanding friend (and sometime ex-girlfriend) who wanted to have a child by someone she knew. The treatment was successful and she gave birth to triplets the following year, a few months before Coleman got married and went on to have two children with his wife. At the hospital, Coleman signed forms confirming he was the father, without realising (he says) that this made him legally liable. Neither Coleman nor his ex had taken legal advice, thinking it would be an unnecessary expense, but the legal case just on Coleman’s side has already cost $400,000.
It’s possible that known donors in the UK might find themselves in a similar situation, even where the donation has been made via a clinic. For a man donating to a couple in a marriage or civil partnership, this should not be a problem as the law on parenthood is clear. But, comments Natalie Gamble, fertility law specialist, when donating to a single woman:
the donor could still be treated as the legal father of the child if he intends any kind of co-parenting role. Since most women conceiving with known donors choose to do so because they want the father to have some degree of involvement, the legal position of the donor is a complicated question.
Coleman has commented that the advice he would give to others is ‘never donate sperm’. A more positive approach would be to say it is well worth the money to see a fertility lawyer before conceiving with a known donor – even through a clinic.
