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Mother Learns the Identity of Child’s Grandmother. Sperm Bank Threatens to Sue
- MagicPropmaker 8y agoNobody is going to be a sperm donor anymore because of consumer DNA testing. It's not worth the risk. Just wait until some court makes the donor pay child support.
- eloff 8y agoShould be pretty easy to show the trail of evidence at the sperm bank. I don't think that's a real risk.
- tomp 8y agoDoesn’t law exempt you from child support obligation if you donate sperm (via a legal clinic, not “have sex with a friend” way)? Otherwise companies could offer insurance as well, or make hopeful mothers sign a contract...
- xyzzyz 8y agoIn states that adopted Uniform Parentage Act, yes. In others, not necessarily.
- onetimemanytime 8y agoI think that in all other cases, but sperm bank ones, biological fathers have been forced to pay. At least I've read all kinds of such stories. They can't make sperm bank donors pay child support or else no one would donate, ruining the chance of having kids for a lot of people.
- JustSomeNobody 8y agoSomeone could certainly sue to try to get support, but I doubt they’d be successful.
- goldenkey 8y agoThe kid could sue, itd definitely be an easier case to win since they are just the collateral victim in the situation
- onetimemanytime 8y agoThe support is always about the kid, no matter who requests it, be it mom or the state "welfare" officers.
- goldenkey 8y agoHaven't there been cases where parents keep the support checks for themselves?
- onetimemanytime 8y agoWell, a two year can't go shopping etc. so an adult that takes care of her uses the money for food, clothes, rent or whatever. And you can't really micromanage mom or the custodian, unless there's neglect.
- jedberg 8y agoI'm not sure about that. A lot of the donors need the money and don't really care if the kid finds out. Also, some donors do it to "spread their seed" and would probably be happy to find out how their kids turned out.
- sys_64738 8y agoI'd say it's in the best interested of the child upon turning 18 to find out the identity of the father. The biological father may well be financially well off and the child would be entitled to a share of any inheritance. At the very least the child could sue the estate to get their portion of any assets.
- dsajames 8y agoThere is zero entitlement to assets from sperm donor. This is very clearly spelled out in law.
- ehudla 8y agoThis is a great example of the principle of unintended consequences. It's interesting to reflect on whether sperm banks contracts from decades ago give them protection from lawsuits in such cases. It is even unclear the degree 23me are protected. Both policy makers, on the the regulatory side, and lawyers doing risk management, should take a hard look at stories such as this.