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You Better Watch What You do with Your Sperm

This is a personal tidbit that I have no business sharing, but it’s pertinent to the story I’m about to relay. Back in college, I donated sperm to a lesbian couple, who couldn’t afford artificial insemination — they figured me for a guy with decent genetics (ha!) and I was flattered, so I gave it up in a very hush-hush operation, in which I met them in a hidden-way part of campus, where they gave me “the supplies” I needed. It turned out, the “supplies” amounted to a small jar in a brown paper sack, which I was instructed to “fill” and leave in their mailbox the next morning. They gave the old turkey baster method a shot — unfortunately for them, it didn’t take and I moved away a couple of days later to Boston.

It probably turns out it was for the best, because in Pennsylvania this week, a legal precedent has been established that makes sperm donors potentially responsible for child support payments. There, a lesbian couple had four children, two adopted and two through a sperm donation from Carl Frampton, a longtime friend. The two lesbians — who had undergone a civil ceremony in Vermont — split, and one of the partners ultimately sued Frampton for child support payments.

The court granted the request (though, Frampton died of a stroke a few months ago), noting that Frampton, by holding himself out as a step-parent, obligated himself to the children. Frampton had been present at one of the births and had contributed over $13,000 in various ways over the last four years. So, by being a good person — donating sperm, helping out with costs — Frampton also bought himself the right to pay child support until the children turn 18.

It’s only a matter of time, folks, before people who contribute to sperm banks are ultimately asked to pay for child support.

Posted by Dustin on May 10, 2007 | Comments (3)