Lesbian Birth Mother Loses Custody to Sperm Donor in Landmark Case
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In a landmark Australian case in Victoria, a sperm donor has won parental rights to a child over the lesbian birth mother.
The ruling was handed down in June by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, which denied the mother’s parental responsibility for the nine-year-old boy.
Instead, the court ruled in favour of her former partner and their sperm donor.
The custody battle has been fought for almost five years between the three adults, at a cost of hundreds and thousands of dollars in legal costs for them, The Herald Sun reported.
The boy was conceived via IVF, and the female couple chose donor eggs and donor sperm.
Donor has always been a part of child’s life
All the parental parties were known to each other. The eggs were donated by a mutual friend of the birth mother and her then partner, while the sperm donor is a man the boy refers to as ‘Daddy’.
The sperm donor met the boy when he was born, continuing to spend time with him regularly, including overnight stays.
The man has always maintained he only ever agreed to donate his sperm if there was a condition that he would always be involved in his son’s life.
But he was never listed on the birth certificate. The birth mother claimed he had waived his rights to any formal parental duty.
Messy custody battle triggered by break-up
The messy custody battle was triggered when the two mothers broke up and started living apart.
Over the last five years, the boy has spent time with each mother as well as with the sperm donor.
The trial judge ruled that just characterising the man “as a sperm donor” and not a person who is concerned about the boy’s “welfare and development” would be ignoring the facts of the case.
“This lead to the conclusion that [the sperm donor] is indeed in practical terms a parent of [the boy] within the ordinary meaning of the word,” they said.
“The evidence unequivocally supports that [the sperm donor] has provided support and care to [the boy] since the time of his birth and will continue doing so.
Lesbian birth mother fought for sole custody
“[The mothers] do not enjoy any superiority over any other person keenly interested in [the boy’s] welfare, namely [the sperm donor].”
The birth mother, who lost her parental rights, had wanted sole responsibility of the child.
But the birth mother’s ex-partner fought for shared responsibility with the sperm donor.
The boy had his own independent legal counsel who put forward the argument that either shared responsibility amongst the three adults or sole custody given to the sperm donor would best suit the boy’s needs.
The judge said it was in the boy’s best interests to make orders that would minimise the risk of further court proceedings.
“I am satisfied that it is not in [the boy’s] best interests for all three to share parental responsibility for him,” the judge ruled.
“It is in the hands of the parents whether [the boy] can finally cease being caught in the middle of them litigating about him.”
The Herald Sun reported that the birth mother had wanted to appeal the decision but was told there was no point.
