So, whose the father then?

[KillerMuffin]

There's a case going on in Massachusettes that's interesting.

A guy had his sperm frozen, dunno why, but I guess he figured it was a chill thing to do. Anyway, he died. A couple of years later his wife had herself inseminated with his sperm and gave birth to a beautiful pair of twins. So she did what any widow with children in the US does when that widow is on the relatively lower income side. She applied for survivor benefits for the children from Social Security.

It turns out that the Massachusettes doesn't care who supplied the DNA cause heirs are determined at time of death. Therefore, they aren't his kids and no benefits. Social Security is like the toadie standing behind the state bully saying "Yeah!"

So my question is this, if he's not the dad, then who can she sue for child support? The doc who inseminated her with her late husband's sperm? Her father in law? The state?

http://news.ibnworks.com/default.sph/Ibn.class/news_article/nra?article=D7E88A400&tpl=news_frame

 

[Samuari]

Where are the leagle eagles when you want 'em.

 

[SweetCherry]

It turns out that the Massachusettes doesn't care who supplied the DNA cause heirs are determined at time of death. Therefore, they aren't his kids and no benefits. Social Security is like the toadie standing behind the state bully saying "Yeah!"

I don't know who would be considered the father in a case like that. I would think she should be able to collect benefits.

But to do with the above quote, if someone takes that literally, would that mean if a man dies while his wife/SO or whatever is pregnant with his child, is it the same thing? Or would they look upon that differently? Geez, I hate beaurocracy!

 

[KillerMuffin]

That's an interesting point... a fetus can be determined an heir, but it's not a human being. Dichotomy of law. Don'tcha love it?

 

[BlondGirl]

A woman who gets pregnant on her own with no male action whatsoever is the single parent.

This should be no different than any other artificial insemination donor case.

(And yes, I have considered this for my next child. I am probably too cheap though and would rather go to one of the bars where the med students hang out--they are always good for a creative and well-knowledgable lay and they have brains too. NASA is about 45 minutes from here too--lots of guys with good genetic code running around there too. And they tend to be kinky from my past experience. If I am going to do this alone, I want my kid to have all the advantages that nature can give him from the get-go.)

 

[lavender]

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

So, whose the father then?

Not the government.

 

[Myrrdin]

There was a similar case in the UK

Diane Blood made history in 1997 by giving birth to a child two years after the father died of bacterial meningitis. Doctors took some of her husband's sperm as he lay dying and froze it.

But while the technology existed for Diane Blood to freeze her husband's sperm and conceive through artificial insemination, she was initially judged to have taken it illegally because her husband had not given his consent in writing. Diane had to fight a long court battle before she was allowed to use the sperm in an IVF programme. She eventually gave birth to her "best present ever", her son Liam, on 11 December 1997, in time for Christmas.

Even so, Diane was told that her husband's name could not go on Liam's birth certificate and that Stephen would not be officially recorded as the boy's father.

 

[Problem Child]

I can't see messin' around with a dead guy's sperm. It's creepy.

She should have gone and gotten some fresh stuff, and then this would be moot. Damn freezers anyway.

 

[BlondGirl]

With a single woman, in Texas anyway, BOTH parents are tested for genetic responsibility for a child who is to recieve child support.

As for the woman who was described in the original post, her financial state is questionable. The costs of artificial insemination are staggering.