State Orders Sperm Donor to Pay Child Support Men – Please take warning and read this carefully!
In 2009, a lesbian couple in Kansas advertised on Craig’s List for a sperm donor. William Marotta contacted the couple and they worked out an agreement that he would have no legal or financial responsibility for the child conceived from his sperm donation. He thought he was just doing a good deed to help to women have a child.
Jennifer Schreiner, the younger member of the lesbian couple underwent artificial insemination and ended up giving birth to a baby girl. A year later, the lesbian pair ended their relationship but maintained the co-parenting duties of the new baby and their other seven children.
Angela Bauer, the older member of the lesbian pair became seriously ill in 2012 and could no longer work to provide for her share of raising eight kids or the health benefits that she had been providing. They applied for state aid, but in order to get it, the state insisted they provide the name of the sperm donor, which they reluctantly did.
Kansas does not recognize same-sex marriages. The now three year old girl’s birth certificate listed Schreiner as the birth mother, but did not list a father and the state demanded to know before they would offer any assistance. Once the couple provided Marotta’s name to Kansas Department for Children and Families, they ordered him to start paying child support since he was the biological father of the little girl.
Marotta is shocked the state would take such measures, especially since he signed a legal agreement with the two women absolving him of any responsibility or parental rights. He is fighting the state’s order and will appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 8. He commented about what is happening, saying:
“As the legal bills mount, I’m sure it’s going to leave more of a distaste. In the long run, I think this will be a good thing, but I’m the one getting squashed. I can’t even believe it’s gone this far at this point and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”
Men, let this be a warning to any of you that may contemplate donating your sperm to someone else. Check out your state’s laws and child services departments’ policies. Even though Marotta signed away all of his rights and privileges to the couple, the state is still trying to hold him financially responsible for the little girl.
