More on Fatherhood by deceit
Findlaw has an opinion piece by Sherry F. Colb (Rutgers Law School), up on the Illinois appeal I discussed before. In the appeal, a father asserted that he had never had vaginal intercourse with the mother. Instead he asserted that since all they did was have oral sex, the mother must have misappropriated his sperm to inseminate herself. Colb takes the case as an opportunity to discuss when, if ever, a father should be able to avoid a paternity determination (and child support) because he claims he did not consent to fatherhood.
Generally, this issue comes up when the dad says “she said she was on the pill!” Courts have universally refused to accept this, finding that father assumed the risk of pregnancy. But what about situations when the father never had intercourse with the mother, and the mother is able to gain access to dad’s sperm> Colb runs through several scenarios, including the facts from the Illinois appeal, use of a date rape drug, and opportunistic dumpster diving by mom. She concludes:
At some point, a man’s lack of actual responsibility for the creation of a child must absolve him of financial responsibility as well.
(Thanks to Marcia Oddi for the tip)
