Tag: Child Support & Surrogacy

Sperm Donors Could Be Forced to Pay Child Support

On behalf of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Child Support on Thursday, January 10, 2013.

child custody can be heavily litigated despite guidelines, especially for sperm donors who never intended to be parents.

Florida protects surrogacy, and has comprehensive laws protecting the baby, intended parents, donors and surrogates. For example, Florida allows a commissioning couple to enter gestational surrogacy contracts in which a commissioning couple reimburses a surrogate for reasonable expenses, and on the child’s birth, the surrogate relinquishes her parental rights. Gestational surrogacy contracts are reviewed by courts to confirm that they are in accordance with Florida law, and for a birth certificate to be issued.

However, serious problems can arise if this statute is not followed correctly. ABC News reports on Topeka, Kansas resident and sperm donor, William Marotta, who is currently facing a child support petition by the Kansas Department of Children and Families:

The state of Kansas is seeking child support from a man who says he signed away all parental rights when he donated sperm to a lesbian couple.

. . .

Marotta, 46, met Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner in 2009 when he responded to a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple in Topeka, Kan., who were offering $50 per sperm donation, according to legal documents.

. . .

All three signed a sperm donor contract that stated that he would have no paternal rights and would be in no way responsible for any child that resulted from the donation.

. . .

“Three years forward, the couple sought state assistance for the child and the Kansas Department of Children and Families sought out of them the name of the father and said they would not provide assistance unless they provide the name,” Swinnen said.

. . .

The filing said that the state had spent $189 on the baby from July 2012 to September 2012 and nearly $6,000 in medical assistance, which Marotta had a duty to pay.

. . .

“The state does not recognize the contract. We’ll see if the courts in Kansas do,” Swinnen said. “We have filed a motion to dismiss. We hope to prevail, but this is the first round.”

A hearing on Marotta’s motion to dismiss the state’s petition is supposed to be heard this month.