In a rather unusual child support case, a 36-year-old father is suing a fertility clinic claiming that he did not give consent for his now ex-girlfriend to use his sperm for the purpose of in vitro fertilization. And while there are certainly some questions that the clinic and mother will have to answer, the entire lawsuit does highlight the role that paternity plays in a child support case.
For this man, he explained that he never planned on having a family, and that his religious beliefs condone him from even stepping foot in a fertility clinic or participating in any kind of fertility treatment. However, he claims that his ex-girlfriend tricked him by stealing his sperm and bringing it to the clinic.
After giving birth, the mother also sued for child support, and since a paternity test proved that he is in fact the father, he was ordered to pay the support.
So far in this lawsuit there are already a number of questions surrounding how the woman could have gotten in vitro without his knowledge, and whether the consent forms were altered by the man’s ex-girlfriend.
And, while the clinic has pointed out that the fertility treatments were billed to the man’s insurance, the 36-year-old has explained that at the time his ex was on his health care plan, but that he thought the bills were for a fibroid condition that she claimed to have.
Even though this lawsuit has not yet made its way to court, just the fact that the DNA blood test showed the man is the father shows just how large of a role paternity is in family law issues related to children. And while right now it appears that the mother is only interested in child support, there is also a possibility that this case will turn into the father also fighting for parental rights as he is the biological father — even if he never intended on having the children.
Source: KPRC Houston, “Dad: Twins came from stolen sperm,” Stephen Dean,” Nov. 23, 2011
