London man must support child from failed lesbian relationship

A London man has been forced to pay child support for two children he
fathered for a lesbian couple, even though he has had no involvement in the
toddlers’ lives. Andy Bathie says that he was approached by the two women five
years ago when they were in a civil partnership. He agreed to become a sperm
donor because his then-partner had been sterilised and was not planning to have
children.

Now the lesbian couple have split up and he has found a new partner.
Unhappily he cannot afford to have children now because he has to pay thousands
of pounds in child support. Mr Bathie’s plight is due to the fact that men who
donate through licensed clinics are shield from being recognised as legal
fathers in the UK, but men who donate privately are not. Pending fertility
reforms will recognise lesbian couples as the legal parents. But the change has
come too late for Mr Bathie. He hopes that he can get the law changed
retrospectively. ~ London
Times, Dec 4

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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