Judge: Sperm Donor Owes Child Support

William Marotta to appeal ruling in controversial case
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Suggested by Tomorrows_Children
Posted Jan 24, 2014 8:49 AM CST
Judge: Sperm Donor Owes Child Support
In this file photo from Dec. 31, 2012, William Marotta poses for a portrait in Topeka, Kan.   (AP Photo/Topeka Capital-Journal, Jeff Davis, File)

The latest twist and turn in the case of a man who provided sperm to a same-sex couple who then had a daughter: A Kansas judge ruled Wednesday that William Marotta is the "presumptive father as a matter of law," not a sperm donor, and must pay child support. Marotta says he gave containers of sperm to Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer three times after responding to their Craigslist ad looking for a donor, then signed a contract waiving his parental rights. But none of that matters, the judge ruled, since the couple didn't use a licensed physician for artificial insemination, which is required under a 1994 state law, the AP and Topeka Capital-Journal report.

"Quite simply, the parties failed to conform to the statutory requirements of the Kansas Parentage Act," the judge said, noting she "may not look the other way simply because the parties intended a different result than that afforded by the statute." Marotta's lawyer says "we have every intention to appeal." And Marotta tells the Topeka Capital-Journal he is "almost" at the point where he'd pick jail over paying child support. The state brought the case against Marotta after the couple sought state benefits; the state wanted him to be on the hook for about $6,000 worth of public assistance and future child support for the now 4-year-old girl. (More Kansas stories.)

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