From the “hard to believe file” – (and the reality is that these attempts happen more often than you might think) – a Massachusetts appeals court judge dismissed the case of a woman seeking child support from an anonymous sperm donor.
Sperm donors should be on high alert.
Both the donor and the recipient remained anonymous for the purposes of the suit. “Jane Doe” was artificially inseminated back in 1999 with the donor’s sperm and twins were born of that effort.
While providing no proof to support her claim, “Jane” contended that the anonymous sperm donor and New England Cryogenic Center (NECC) indicated that the donor wanted to be in touch with the children after they were born. The NECC officials denied the accusation and report that the donor filed all of the appropriate paperwork to ensure anonymity.
From the article:
A lower court judge had ruled that, in order for the donor to be responsible for paying child support, he had to be the biological father; consent to the artificial insemination; and agree to support the child.
The judge felt that while “Jane’s” argument met the first to criteria, the paperwork specifying anonymity meant she would not meet the third.
It is no shock that court documents reportedly indicate that the woman bringing the lawsuit is under significant financial strain (or was at the time of the lawsuit) and that’s likely what motivated the attempt to cash-in on a child support order after all of these years.
Sperm donors should be on notice that even they need to go to great lengths to ensure that they later cannot be tracked down and forced to financially support a child that was never part of their intentions at the time of their donation. Even those who request total anonymity are subject to, at the very least, dealing with a possible child support action against them.
For the full article, click here: Court dismisses sperm-donor child support case
