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Charlie Chambers
--
Hood River, OR USA
cchamber@alumni.rice.edu
"...not because I regard fishing as being so terribly
important but because I suspect that so many of the other
concerns of men are equally unimportant-and not nearly
so much fun."
John Voelker
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On Jul 29, 2004, at 8:14 AM, "" <dean@thehuffpeople.net> wrote:
> .
>
> In The Courts
>
> Pennsylvania State Superior Court Orders Sperm Donor To Pay Child
> Support for
> Twins Conceived Through IVF
>
> [Jul 27, 2004]
>
> A three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania State Superior Court on
> Thursday in a
> ruling that could have "wide implications" for sperm and egg donors
> ordered a
> sperm donor to pay child support to the mother of twin boys conceived
> through
> in vitro fertilization using his sperm, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer
> reports.
> Joel McKiernan acted as a sperm donor for Ivonne Ferguson in 1993
> under an oral
> agreement that McKiernan would have no responsibility for any child
> born as a
> result of the IVF procedure, according to the written opinion of
> Senior Judge
> Patrick Tamalia. Ferguson gave birth to twin boys in August 1994 and
> filed for
> child support from McKiernan approximately five years later. Ferguson
> said that
> McKiernan was a "willing partner" in the procedure, according to the
> AP/Inquirer. The three-judge panel said that the agreement between
> Ferguson and
> McKiernan that released him from any obligation to provide support was
> a valid
> contract "on its face" but was unenforceable because of "legal,
> equitable and
> moral principles," according to the AP/Inquirer. The state appellate
> court
> previously has ruled that parents cannot make arrangements that give
> up a
> child's right to support. "We agree with the trial court, although we
> find
> (Ferguson's) actions despicable and give (McKiernan) a sympathetic
> hue, it is
> the interest of the children we hold most dear," Tamalia wrote in the
> ruling.
> The ruling "should give pause" to sperm and egg donors who expect
> anonymity,
> according to Arthur Caplan, professor and medical ethicist at the
> University of
> Pennsylvania. "Anybody who is a sperm donor ought to understand that
> their
> identity could be made known to any child that's produced and they
> could be
> seen by the courts as the best place to go to make sure the child has
> adequate
> financial support," Caplan said. At least 19 states -- but not
> Pennsylvania --
> have adopted a version of the Uniform Parentage Act, which ensures
> sperm donors
> cannot be "forced to take on the responsibilities of active
> fatherhood,"
> according to the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer (Scolforo, AP/Philadelphia
> Inquirer,
> 7/25).
>
