Thursday, December 09, 2010

Another Sperm Donor fighting to become "Dad"

Another gay sperm donor is fighting for parental rights in the U.K. While the lesbian couple, Stacey Cassin and her partner, Kate, claim they had a "gentlemen's agreement" with Mark Hartill that he could see the child, they state they all agreed he would have no parental rights. In other words, no legal contract between them.

But the couple told The Sun that he had become “besotted” with the baby girl after seeing her several times and now wants weekly access to the child and to be recognised as a parent.

Stacey claimed he had broken their “verbal agreement." She added: ”We are determined to fight this through the courts, though we never wanted it to come to this.”

The couple found Mr. Hartill through a gay magazine where they state he said he wanted very little involvement with the child.

Recently, a British court ruled that a gay sperm donor could spend 152 days with his children. This donor also said in his ad that he wanted very little involvement with his children; however, the court ruled:

But the Appeal Court was told that the father now played a central role in the children's lives, including taking them to doctors' appointments and paying their school fees.

Obviously, both these cases highlight the need for experienced legal counsel. In the second case, I'm not sure a legal agreement would have protected the couple, as by his very actions, the sperm donor became a parent, which can legally occur wether their is a genetic link to the child or not.

Working with a known donor can be a great way to have your family. Just speak with an experienced attorney first about all the legal possibilities.

What say you?