Good news men! Well, potentially at least. Hopefully this sets a legal precedent.
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a woman who promised a sperm donor he would not have to pay child support cannot renege on the deal.
The 3-2 decision overturns lower court rulings under which Joel L. McKiernan had been paying up to $1,500 a month to support twin boys born in August 1994 to Ivonne V. Ferguson, his former girlfriend and co-worker.
For those who don’t know, it is normal for a man who donated his sperm with the understanding he would not be liable to provide for the child, to then be sued for child support and be forced to pay regardless. Like what happened to this idiot.
“Where a would-be donor cannot trust that he is safe from a future support action, he will be considerably less likely to provide his sperm to a friend or acquaintance who asks, significantly limiting a would-be mother’s reproductive prerogatives,” Justice Max Baer wrote in the majority opinion issued last week. Continue reading