Child Protection Authority goes *completely bonkers*

[cthulhu]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/12/ ... uote]Sperm donor ordered to pay lesbian couple
December 5, 2007 - 7:28AM

A British firefighter who donated his sperm so a lesbian couple could have two babies is being forced to pay thousands of pounds in child support.

Andy Bathie, 37, initially agreed to help Sharon and Terri Arnold after being assured he would not have to be involved in the upbringing of their young boy and girl or have any financial responsibility towards them.

But the British government's Child Support Agency has begun docking his pay to force him to contribute to the children's upbringing because the lesbian couple have split up.

Mr Bathie has launched unprecedented court action in an attempt to ensure he cannot be recognised as a legal parent to the children.

"These women wanted to be parents and take on all the responsibilities that brings," he told the Evening Standard newspaper.

"I would never have agreed to this unless they had been living as a committed family.

"And now I can't afford to have children with my own wife - it's crippling me financially."

AAP[/quote]

What the hell is the go with that. That is *stupid*

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I think it's messed up that he has to pay for the kid, but if I was asked to be a sperm donor for someone, I would get everything in writing so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

[cthulhu]

Any contract you made with the parties involved may not be binding, because it may be constructed as a question of the childs rights, who was not a party to the contract.

It would need to be a legal principal. Lesson here: Do not donate anything to anyone

[cthulhu]

Ah, it appears that there is an escape free mechanism.

At the heart of the dispute is the fact that, under British law, only men who donate sperm anonymously through licensed fertility clinics are not considered the legal father of any resulting child.

"Men giving out their sperm in any other way... are legally the father of any children born with all the responsibilities that carries," said a spokesman for Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

In Bathie's case, the donation was a private arrangement.

Bathie said Monday: "I don't have any particular ill will. It's the fact that I still even now don't see why I should have to pay for another couple's children."

[Lago_AM3P]

How much money do you want to bet that this story is going to become some sort of canard the anti-LGBT haters are going to beat us over the head with?

I can see the meme now:

'If you allow lesbian couples, they'll look for ways to scam out innocent (heterosexual) males!'

[PhoneLobster]

How much money do you want to bet

It should be a pool based on how long it takes since the story first broke.

I'm betting that it actually took so little time for the story to be exploited in such a manner that it infact began shortly before the story actually broke.

[Crissa]

I say the article is bogus.

But at any rate, I otherwise don't care, as that shouldn't happen in California. We have laws allowing for parental termination - adoption normally carries termination of a natural parent's rights, even in Britain - and laws allowing for more than one natural parent or guardian.

Basically, he made a child, and his beef should be with the parent who didn't complete the adoption process and did not take over the financial support indicated. It's his fault for not going after her... And not CPA for trying to find someone to financially support a child.

-Crissa