Australia Court Rules on Sperm Donor Parental Rights Case

Usually sperm donors do not have paternalrights. However, recently an Australian high court has ruled that the statelaws were pre-empted by federal law, which states that a parent is achild’s biological parent. A formerly married couple made thechoice to conceive using in vitro fertilization. When the man donated his sperm,he signed paperwork stating that he would not have parental rights. The womenexplained to the court that it was her intention to raise the child by herself.Despite her intention, she continually allowed her ex to visit her son forseveral years. The man developed a relationship with his son. After a while,the mother and father’s friendship deteriorated. As a result, the motherrefused to allow the father to see the son.

In Groth v. Banks, the court determined that sharedconservatorship was in the best interest of the child. Additionally, the courtasserted that any protection from the laws offered was waived when the motherallowed a relationship between the son and father to cultivate. 

See  Landmark Ruling in Sperm Donor – Case- Australia, Family By Design, Jun. 23, 2013.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.