Sperm Donor to Lesbian Couple Ordered to Pay Child Support

hotballa · May 10, 2007

The situation would be laughable if there weren't kids involved. So many things went wrong with this whole thing...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271116,00.html

Pennsylvania Court Orders Sperm Donor to Lesbian Couple to Pay Child Support

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania — A sperm donor who helped a lesbian couple conceive two children is liable for child support under a state appellate court ruling that a legal expert believes might be the first of its kind in the U.S.

A Superior Court panel last week ordered a Dauphin County judge to establish how much Carl L. Frampton Jr. would have to pay to the birth mother of the 8-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl.

"I'm unaware of any other state appellate court that has found that a child has, simultaneously, three adults who are financially obligated to the child's support and are also entitled to visitation," said New York Law School professor Arthur S. Leonard, an expert on sexuality and the law.

But Frampton, 60, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, died suddenly of a stroke in March, leaving lawyers involved in the case with different theories about how his death may affect the precedent-setting case.

Jodilynn Jacob, 33, and Jennifer Lee Shultz-Jacob, 48, moved in together as a couple in 1996, and were granted a civil-union license in Vermont in 2002. In addition to conceiving the two children with the help of Frampton — a longtime friend of Shultz-Jacob's — Jacob also adopted her brother's two older children, now 12 and 13

But the women's relationship fell apart, and Jacob and the children moved out of their Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, home in February 2006.

Shortly afterward, a court awarded her about $1,000 a month in support from Shultz-Jacob. Shultz-Jacob later lost an effort to have the court force Frampton to contribute support — a decision that the Superior Court overturned April 30.

Jacob, who now lives in Harrisburg, said Frampton provided some financial support over the years and gradually took a greater interest in the children.

"Part of the decision came down because he was so involved with them," Jacob said Wednesday. "It wasn't that he went to the (sperm) bank and that was it. They called him Papa."

The process was very informal — Jacob was inseminated at home.

In his written opinion requiring Frampton to help pay for the child's support, Superior Court Judge John T.J. Kelly Jr. noted that Frampton spent thousands of dollars on the children, including purchases of toys and clothing.

The children knew he was their biological father, but Frampton opposed the effort to compel support from him.

"We made the argument that, according to Pennsylvania law as it stands, there can really only be two adult individuals that can be held liable for support in a child-custody case," said Frampton's lawyer, Matthew Aaron Smith.

Shultz-Jacob's lawyer, Heather Z. Reynosa, wants Frampton's support obligation to be made retroactive to when Jacob first filed for support. Frampton's Social Security survivor benefits may also help reduce Shultz-Jacob's monthly obligation.

It is unclear how the child-support guidelines, which assume two parents, will be adapted to account for three parents.

"That's what's going to be interesting, because there's not a whole lot of guidance out there," Reynosa said.

The state Supreme Court is currently considering a similar case, in which a sperm donor wants to enforce a promise made by the mother that he would not have to be involved in the child's life. That biological father was ordered to pay $1,520 in monthly support.

About two-thirds of states have adopted versions of the Uniform Parentage Act that can shield sperm donors from being forced to assume parenting responsibilities. Pennsylvania has no such law.
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Rocket River · May 10, 2007

Ridiculous

The Father has no rights that the law has to respect
even a forfeiture of rights

Rocket River

RocketMan Tex · May 10, 2007

So happy I changed careers 25 years ago......

ima_drummer2k · May 10, 2007

RocketMan Tex said:

So happy I changed careers 25 years ago......

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Wait, you're a single musician from LA, right? So that means your sperm is probably spread all over the southwestern United States!

Invisible Fan · May 10, 2007

No good deed goes unpunished.

Sishir Chang · May 10, 2007

The problem I see with a ruling like this is then can biological parents who give up a child for adoption still be sued for child support if the adopting parents divorce? Could you have a situation where four adults, two adoptive parents and two biological parents, are resonsible for the welfare of a child?

Cesar^Geronimo · May 10, 2007

Sishir Chang said:

The problem I see with a ruling like this is then can biological parents who give up a child for adoption still be sued for child support if the adopting parents divorce? Could you have a situation where four adults, two adoptive parents and two biological parents, are resonsible for the welfare of a child?
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The real difference is there was no adoption. He fathered the children (via intercourse I assume because they said it happen at home -- I guess a Turkey baster could have been involved), stayed involved in their lives and provided emotional and monetary support. They even knew him as their father.

But if the woman told him that if he fathered the children they would not hold him responsible then they may be legally in the right but morally they are clearly in the wrong.

I live about 1/2 hour south of Dillsburg (where the couple lived)

Sishir Chang · May 10, 2007

^ If there wasn't a legal adoption by the non-parental partner then I would agree with the ruling and go even further to say that the non-parental partner shouldn't pay child support since she never adopted. If there was a legal adoption I think it is very problematic.

Rocket River · May 10, 2007

Cesar^Geronimo said:

The real difference is there was no adoption. He fathered the children (via intercourse I assume because they said it happen at home -- I guess a Turkey baster could have been involved), stayed involved in their lives and provided emotional and monetary support. They even knew him as their father.

But if the woman told him that if he fathered the children they would not hold him responsible then they may be legally in the right but morally they are clearly in the wrong.

I live about 1/2 hour south of Dillsburg (where the couple lived)
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Honestly He should sue for full custody

Rocket River

bnb · May 10, 2007

Lets see....

At the time of conception....she was 25, he was 52. He, a good friend, 'helped them conceive" at home, in an "informal" process....A couple of lesbians. later breaking up...

Sounds like a Springer script.

EDIT --

And if he -- now deceased -- sues for custidy....then we've got a movie of the week.

hotballa · May 10, 2007

bnb said:

Lets see....

At the time of conception....she was 25, he was 52. He, a good friend, 'helped them conceive" at home, in an "informal" process....A couple of lesbians. later breaking up...

Sounds like a Springer script.
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Exactly hwat I was thinking when I first read this.

Rocket River · May 10, 2007

bnb said:

Lets see....

At the time of conception....she was 25, he was 52. He, a good friend, 'helped them conceive" at home, in an "informal" process....A couple of lesbians. later breaking up...

Sounds like a Springer script.

EDIT --

And if he -- now deceased -- sues for custidy....then we've got a movie of the week.
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oops missed that part. . . . . That would make it a Comedy

Rocket River

Sishir Chang · May 10, 2007

Rocket River said:

oops missed that part. . . . . That would make it a Comedy

Rocket River
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Weekend Dad at Bernie's

Austin70 · May 10, 2007

Frampton Comes Alive.

glynch · May 10, 2007

RocketMan Tex said:

So happy I changed careers 25 years ago......

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I guess it is safer to go to the blood bank for extra cash. I better advise my clients of this case.

BTW Rocketman, I think with age you were down to only donating several times a week at the sperm bank anyway.

I hear the rights and responsibilities of sperm bank donors is one of the cumming fields in litigation. Sperm banks are having to increase their insurance coverage to protect themselves in this gooey mess of litigation.

rrj_gamz · May 11, 2007

Totally ridiculous...How in the helll does something like this happen....I'm no lawyer though...

Paging Refman...

Invisible Fan · May 11, 2007

glynch said:

I hear the rights and responsibilities of sperm bank donors is one of the cumming fields in litigation. Sperm banks are having to increase their insurance coverage to protect themselves in this gooey mess of litigation.
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Be glad that there aren't any independent women reading the D&D or they'd say that was in poor taste.

glynch · May 11, 2007

Invisible Fan said:

Be glad that there aren't any independent women reading the D&D or they'd say that was in poor taste.
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Are there any women at all? I din't realize that we could be in mixed company.

If so, I apologize.

Invisible Fan · May 12, 2007

I wasn't serious, glynch.

I don't care what women think.

giddyup · May 12, 2007

RocketMan Tex said:

So happy I changed careers 25 years ago......

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Lawyer or Sperm Donor?

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Sperm Donor to Lesbian Couple Ordered to Pay Child Support

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