Child support claim rankles sperm donor to lesbian couple

EnglishLady

Veteran Expediter
KANSAS CITY, Kansas (Reuters) - A Kansas man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple so they could have a child said on Wednesday he is shocked the state is now trying to make him pay child support.

William Marotta, 46, donated sperm to Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer under a written agreement that he would not be considered the father of the child nor liable for child support. A daughter, now 3, was born to Schreiner.

But in October, the state of Kansas filed a petition seeking to have Marotta declared the father of the child and financially responsible for her after the couple encountered money difficulties.

Marotta will ask the court in a hearing January 8 to dismiss the claim, which centers on a state law that the sperm must be donated through a licensed physician in order for the father to be free of any later financial obligations. Marotta gave a container of semen to the couple, who found him on Craigslist, instead of donating through a doctor or clinic.

The case is seen as having repercussions for other sperm donors. Sperm banks routinely provide sperm to people who want to conceive a child on the understanding that the donors are not responsible for the children.

Kansas is seeking child support from Marotta, including about $6,000 in medical expenses related to the child's birth, according to its petition.

"This was totally unexpected," Marotta said in a phone interview. "The very first thing that went through my mind was that no good deed goes unpunished."

The case has attracted national attention. Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said Wednesday "it is unfortunate and unfair" that Kansas is seeking money from a sperm donor.

"It certainly might have a negative effect on other men's willingness to help couples who need a donor, which would be harmful to everyone," Minter said.

"I also think it undermines everyone's respect for the law when you see it operate so arbitrarily."

Kansas officials are required under the law to determine the father of a child when someone seeks state benefits, said Angela de Rocha, spokeswoman for the Department for Children and Families. The couple was compelled to provide that information, which led to investigation of the sperm donation.

Marotta should be declared the father and subject to financial claims because he donated the sperm directly to the women and not through a physician, as required by Kansas law, the state's petition states.

Marotta said he's had virtually no contact with the child, but that he and Schreiner have remained cordial. He said she was pressured by the state to provide his name as the sperm donor.

"To me, ethics need to override rules," he said.

Lawyers for Marotta argue that he had no parental rights because of his agreement with the couple and cannot be held financially responsible.

They cite a 2007 case in which the Kansas Supreme Court ruled against a sperm donor seeking parental rights because he did not have any such agreement with the mother, lawyers for Marotta said.

"So now, we are flipping the argument around," Marotta attorney Ben Swinnen said Wednesday.

If the father had no legal parental rights in the 2007 case, Marotta should be declared to have no parental obligations in the current case, Swinnen said.

Marotta, a race car mechanic, responded to an ad on Craigslist from someone offering to pay $50 for sperm donations, but he made the donation for free. Marotta said he and his wife have no children of their own but have fostered a daughter. Marotta said he was simply trying to help a couple wanting a child.
 

Monty

Expert Expediter
EL .. when you copy and paste articles to the forums, please include the link. There are copyright laws that come into play here ..... if you have ever noticed, most all the stories placed in the OnTimeMedia news feed gives credit to the source.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
EL .. when you copy and paste articles to the forums, please include the link. There are copyright laws that come into play here ..... if you have ever noticed, most all the stories placed in the OnTimeMedia news feed gives credit to the source.
A link is always good so people can go and read the original source, but the story above is fully credited to Reuters.

FWIW, here's an AP story that gives a little more information and with a slightly different angle.
Kansas wants sperm donor pay child support
 

Ragman

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
He, apparently, has too much time on his hands (pun intended).
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Sometimes, two stout dikes can circumvent Nature. The Netherlands has many examples.


Even the "Dikes" in the Netherlands will someday fail. Man cannot defeat nature over the long haul.

Lesbians, by their very nature, are not meant to breed. It should remain that way.

As to the story, what a mess. A direct result of man's follies.
 

BobWolf

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
You can find anything on Craigs List.

BTW this guy is totaly screwed.

Bob Wolf.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver

Department spokeswoman Angela de Rocha said Wednesday that when a single mother seeks benefits for a child, the department routinely tries to determine the child's paternity and require the father to make support payments to lessen the potential cost to taxpayers.
She argued that the law regarding artificial insemination is an incentive for donors and prospective mothers to work with a doctor.
"I believe that is the intent of the law, so that we don't end up with these ambiguous situations," she told The Associated Press.

Um - there's nothing ambiguous about the situation [that having gone through a doctor would clarify] except for the missing second parent. No mention of her at all, much less an explanation for allowing her to skate on the responsibility for the child.

BTW: studies don't agree that children raised by same sex parents are disadvantaged in any way - except when others [like kids who hear if from their parents] tell them they are.
Can anyone of you who believe otherwise provide any proof to support your view?

 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
This is what happens when man plays god and overrides nature.

Get real - man overrides nature all the time.
When you go duck hunting, do you stick to the weapons 'nature' has provided for you? Or do you carry some manmade help?
:rolleyes:
If the couple are traditional husband/wife, is artificial insemination wrong?
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
I said NOTHING about same sex parents raising children. I stated that NATURE decided, for what ever reason, to a sexual orientation that precludes them from procreating, breeding for those who don't believe in creation. Passing on recessive genes is bad for the human race, generally speaking. While I don't believe in general genetic testing in this case it is obvious that they are not, from a survival of the species stand point, viable breeding stock. It should have been left that way.

As to them raising a child, different argument, not part of this thread.
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Excuse me, but it's the 'same sex parents' angle that makes it a newsworthy item, so no, it's not a "different thread" at all.
But you ignored the question: when a traditional couple can't conceive, [he had mumps, she had endometriosis, whatever] should that preclude their using artificial insemination to become parents?
 

layoutshooter

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Excuse me, but it's the 'same sex parents' angle that makes it a newsworthy item, so no, it's not a "different thread" at all.
But you ignored the question: when a traditional couple can't conceive, [he had mumps, she had endometriosis, whatever] should that preclude their using artificial insemination to become parents?

It depends on the situation. From STRICTLY a survival of the species stand point only those who can, without help, conceive. The more random the better. The more man interferes the greater the chance of weakening the species. Weaken it too far and it will fail. Modern medicine is a multi-edged sword, capable of great wonders and the able to destroy the species at the same time.

I am ONLY speaking of survival of the species. Nature has "chosen" these two to be evolutionary dead ends. Why? I don't know.
 

Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter

BTW: studies don't agree that children raised by same sex parents are disadvantaged in any way - except when others [like kids who hear if from their parents] tell them they are.

"Studies" don't agree...?? What studies? Where's the proof of your assertion?
Can anyone of you who believe otherwise provide any proof to support your view?
New Study On Homosexual Parents Tops All Previous Research

It doesn't take superior intelligence to recognize the social and psychological disadvantages that come into play for a boy being raised by two lesbians. The deterioration of the traditional family will be recognized by historians as one of the critical factors that contributed to the decline of our country.
 
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