Sperm Donor Liability In Future Paternity and Child Support Actions

Plaintiff was artificially inseminated by sperm from defendant, her former partner now married to another woman. Following the birth of twins, plaintiff filed an action to establish paternity, obtain full custody and establish child support. N.J.S.A. 9:17-44(b), the statute applicable to artificial insemination in New Jersey, prevents a sperm donor from being subject to child support or paternity claims as long as a properly licensed physician performed the insemination and the parties fully and truthfully disclose all required information. Where there is no licensed physician involved or, as in this case, one or both parties give false information the sperm donor may be named the father in a paternity action and subject to child support. In the instant case, Renden v. Ale, the parties knowingly deceived the physician performing the procedure when the sperm donor stated he was not legally married to another person at the time the procedure was performed. The court determined that the physician would not have performed the procedure if the sperm donor had been truthful and this deception deprived the sperm donor of the protection of the artificial insemination statute. The court decided the case in favor of the plaintiff, naming the sperm donor as the father in the paternity action, granting full custody of the children to the mother and establishing child support to be paid from the defendant to the plaintiff. If you are seeking to establish paternity or defend against a paternity suit or wish to establish or modify child support, you should consult an experienced family law attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. For more information on child support, custody, parenting time/visitation, adoption, dissolution of a civil union, marriage or domestic partnership, modifications, alimony, palimony or other family or juvenile law matters in New Jersey visit HeatherDarlingLawyer.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and in no way intended to replace the advice of an attorney regarding your specific matter.

Women Still Face Unequal Rights in NJ

If the wife of an infertile man has a child through artificial insemination, the man is presumed to be the father and all rights of paternity vest in that man. The laws of nature prevent a man from bearing a woman's child and the laws of New Jersey prevent an infertile woman from being listed on the birth certificate of a child born to a gestational carrier artificially inseminated by the wife's husband. Not only has the court opted to deprive infertile women of equal rights to infertile men but the New Jersey Court, in the Matter of the Parentage of a Child by T.J.S. and A.L.S., expressed concern for gestational carriers over infertile women. However, gestational carriers and infertile mothers both entered a contract on equal terms, along with the husband of the infertile woman, in which the gestational carrier agreed that the child would know the infertile woman as its mother from the time of birth. For the court to step in and say the infertile woman may not be listed on the birth certificate while saying an infertile man is presumed to be the father and listed on the birth certificate is placing women in the status of property and is discriminatory. If you are seeking custody of a child, fighting a change in custody or considering adoption, you should consult an experienced family law attorney immediately in order to protect your rights. For more information on child custody, paternity, child support, parenting time/visitation, adoption, dissolution of a civil union, marriage or domestic partnership, modifications, alimony, palimony or other family law matters in New Jersey visit HeatherDarlingLawyer.com. This blog is for informational purposes only and in no way intended to replace the advice of an attorney regarding your specific matter.