anonymous sperm donor dad? No more

[hoosier]

Very recently, a (currently anonymous) 15-year-old boy, who had been conceived by way of in vitro fertilization, tracked down his otherwise anonymous sperm donor dad.

The clever teen just scraped a few cells off the inside of his cheek and mailed them into a commercial genetic database along with a fee of about $296 in order to see if his Y chromosomes matched anybody else in the system. After hearing from two other men whose chromosomes strongly matched his own, he paid another online service for the names of every person born on the same day and in the same hospital as his donor (the boy's mother had obtained the date and place of birth from the sperm bank). One last name corresponded with the last name of one of the other men in the database, and within less than two weeks, the boy contacted his sperm donor. This story would almost be touching if it weren't actually kind of creepy. It essentially boils down to the scary fact that any person with enough cash can get a hold of virtually any personal information that an individual may want to keep secret.

http://www.dailycampus.com/user/inde...ailycampus.com

[lauralaylin]

Did the father want to be found? Since it's anonymous, I would think that there's a good chance that he would rather not know about the children he may have fathered this way.

[Kevin]

Some courts have actually put these guys on the hook for child support.

[RedRoseSAI]

Originally posted by ktsnake
Some courts have actually put these guys on the hook for child support.

That's just wrong.

[AOX81]

Originally posted by RedRoseSAI
That's just wrong.

I agree, that is WRONG!

[Jill1228]

That is beyond wrong...that is a major crock of shit!

I guess that will put the sperm bank right out of business because no man would evah want to donate if they wind up on the hook for child support

And is it the baby's mommas going after the support? If that is the case she needs to be pimp slapped

Originally posted by ktsnake
Some courts have actually put these guys on the hook for child support.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by Jill1228
That is beyond wrong...that is a major crock of shit!

I guess that will put the sperm bank right out of business because no man would evah want to donate if they wind up on the hook for child support

And is it the baby's mommas going after the support? If that is the case she needs to be pimp slapped

Well, the funny thing is, that I guess paternity is easily established when the kid uses his or her own DNA to track the donor down. It's pretty f'd up.

I'd expect state legislatures to respond by giving these guys immunity. Unfortunately, this isn't at the top of the agenda for some reason.

Here are a few stories:

Sperm donor fights order to support 2 children

Sperm donor fights order to support 2 children. Friday, May 20, 2005. By Barbara
White Stack, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is ...
www.post-gazette.com/pg/05140/507736.stm

State Superior Court rules sperm donor must pay support
... Court invalidated a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor and
ordered him to pay child support for twin boys born nearly 10 years ago. ...
www.post-gazette.com/pg/04206/351160.stm


Child support for sperm donors, lesbians sue sperm donor for ...
... line designated "spouse's signature" at the sperm bank, according to legal
papers. ... Courts have held that parents are responsible for child support ...
www.canadiancrc.com/articles/Boston_Globe_Partner_child_support_lesbians_sperm_ donor_01MAR04.htm

[Boodleboy322]

Wow..that's pretty messed up...I don't think that the Donor should be responsible for child support...the clinic that paid the donor for the sperm should be responsible if anyone and even they shouldn't be.

[Kevin]

It would be interesting to see the donor sue the DNA matching service to recover what he loses in child support. I'm not sure what restrictions are placed on that service, or whether there's a duty to protect that information from prying 3rd parties. My guess is that there's not if the service is available.

If that's the case, these types of services should be available only to people like law enforcement IMHO.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by ktsnake
Well, the funny thing is, that I guess paternity is easily established when the kid uses his or her own DNA to track the donor down. It's pretty f'd up.

I'd expect state legislatures to respond by giving these guys immunity. Unfortunately, this isn't at the top of the agenda for some reason.

Here are a few stories:

Sperm donor fights order to support 2 children

Sperm donor fights order to support 2 children. Friday, May 20, 2005. By Barbara
White Stack, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is ...
www.post-gazette.com/pg/05140/507736.stm

State Superior Court rules sperm donor must pay support
... Court invalidated a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor and
ordered him to pay child support for twin boys born nearly 10 years ago. ...
www.post-gazette.com/pg/04206/351160.stm


Child support for sperm donors, lesbians sue sperm donor for ...
... line designated "spouse's signature" at the sperm bank, according to legal
papers. ... Courts have held that parents are responsible for child support ...
www.canadiancrc.com/articles/Boston_Globe_Partner_child_support_lesbians_sperm_ donor_01MAR04.htm

The first case you mention has been in the papers for what seems like years. An older engaged couple decide to have a child, they get eggs from one woman, use IVF with the male half of the older engaged couple to create the fertilized eggs, then implant them in a third woman. The engaged couple didn't visit the surrogate mother enough times in the hospital, and now EVERYONE'S suing for custody!

Frankly, I think they ought to find the next reasonable couple who have spent years on an adoption list, and let THEM have custody!

[Kevin]

Or maybe cut the kiddo in half - King Solomon style!