Sperm Donor May Be Forced to Pay Child Support
Jan 26, 2013
Zephyrhills, FL (Law Firm Newswire) January 25, 2013 – The state of Kansas filed suit to force a Topeka man to pay child support for a three-year-old girl he fathered after donating sperm to a lesbian couple.
Zephyrhills divorce attorney Marcie Baker, reached for comment, said, “The Kansas case is the unfortunate result of a lack of understanding of the law governing sperm donations and parental responsibility.”
In 2009, William Marotta, 46, responded to a Craigslist ad posted by a local couple, Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer, who wished to find a sperm donor so that they could fulfill their dream of raising a child together. After several emails exchanges and meetings, the three created a written agreement waiving Marotta’s financial and fatherly responsibilities toward any offspring resulting from their arrangement.
The three did not use a doctor, clinic or any other medical establishment to facilitate the sperm donations. Instead, Marotta simply gave his sperm to the couple in containers, and the women used a syringe to attempt insemination. They eventually succeeded in impregnating Schreiner, who gave birth to a girl.
In late 2011, Schreiner and Bauer broke up, and Schreiner applied for and received about $6000 in public assistance payments from the state to help raise her daughter.
Kansas now seeks to force Marotta to reimburse the government for those payments and force him to pay Schreiner child support. The Kansas Department of Children and Families routinely seeks out the fathers of children whose single mothers apply for public benefits in an attempt to minimize the burden to taxpayers.
A 1994 Kansas law states that a sperm donor is free of financial obligations to a biological child only when the donated sperm is provided to a doctor for artificial insemination. The state argues that the legal agreement between Marotta and Schreiner is therefore not valid.
“This case serves to illustrate the legal pitfalls that people may get themselves into without proper legal guidance,” added Ms. Baker. “Anyone with a child custody matter should consult an experienced family law attorney.”
Marcie Baker is a partner in the firm of Alston & Baker, P. A. To contact a Zephyrhills Social Security lawyer, Zephyrhills accident attorney, or Zephyrhills divorce lawyer, visit http://www.alstonbakerlaw.com.
Alston & Baker, P.A.
5518 Seventh Street
Zephyrhills, Florida 33542
Call: 813-779-8895
Toll-free: 1-888-500-5245
Alston & Baker, an Affiliation of Professional Associations:
The Law Office of Robert C.Alston, Esq., P.A. and
The Law Office of Marcie L. Baker, Esq., P.A.
