Sperm donor wins court fight to keep lesbian couple's baby
DUBLIN, Ireland – A man who donated his sperm for a lesbian couple to have a child won a legal fight Thursday to keep his biological son in Ireland.
The Supreme Court judgment was a legal first in Ireland, a predominantly Roman Catholic country where gay unions are not recognized in family law. It meant that the couple, who were wed in a civil union ceremony in England, cannot resettle in Australia with their 14-month-old boy as they had hoped, but can only vacation there for a maximum six weeks.
Two judges, Justices Susan Denham and Joseph Finnegan, ruled that the toddler's best interests required him to stay in Ireland in proximity to his biological father. The third judge on Ireland's highest court, Justice Nial Fennelly, dissented, arguing that the man's legal team had offered no evidence that the boy's welfare would be harmed by leaving Ireland.
The verdict set the stage for a second unprecedented courtroom battle between the man and the couple – as to whether he should enjoy joint custody of the toddler.
"The case is utterly unique and unprecedented," Fennelly wrote in his dissenting opinion, noting that neither the parental rights of sperm donors nor lesbian couples had been nailed down in Irish law.
"Both situations are entirely novel for our courts," he wrote.
Neither side has been publicly identified by name, in keeping with Ireland's policy of granting anonymity to people in family law cases.
The lesbian couple – one partjner from Ireland, the other from Australia – exchanged marriage-style vows in England in January 2006, one month after civil unions were legalized in the United Kingdom.
The Irish woman had already become pregnant through an Irish sperm donor, who signed a contract that recognized his rights to visit the child and ensured that he knew his biological father. It also stipulated that, if the birth mother died, he would have a say in the child's guardianship.
The boy, born in May 2006, received his biological father's name as his middle name, and the lesbian couple initially granted the man regular visits with the newborn. But tensions quickly grew, both sides' lawyers agreed.
The couple initially restricted the man's access, then announced they planned to travel to Australia for up to a year. The man launched two lawsuits in March, one to restrict the Australian trip and the other to seek joint custody. The latter case is scheduled to be heard in the autumn.
Thursday's verdict upheld a judgment by High Court Justice Henry Abbott, who ruled that the lesbian couple could travel with the child to Australia for a maximum of six weeks, then must hand over their passports upon return to Ireland. He suggested that, even as a sperm donor, the man should be legally recognized as the boy's father.
Abbott called the coming 12 months "a critical year" in the boy's development, "a year when a bond is about to open up on an objective scale, a reciprocal scale, between father and son."
The majority opinion of the Supreme Court agreed that, until the man's custody claim could be considered, the boy should be permitted to travel outside Ireland for only a limited period. - AP
The Supreme Court judgment was a legal first in Ireland, a predominantly Roman Catholic country where gay unions are not recognized in family law. It meant that the couple, who were wed in a civil union ceremony in England, cannot resettle in Australia with their 14-month-old boy as they had hoped, but can only vacation there for a maximum six weeks.
Two judges, Justices Susan Denham and Joseph Finnegan, ruled that the toddler's best interests required him to stay in Ireland in proximity to his biological father. The third judge on Ireland's highest court, Justice Nial Fennelly, dissented, arguing that the man's legal team had offered no evidence that the boy's welfare would be harmed by leaving Ireland.
The verdict set the stage for a second unprecedented courtroom battle between the man and the couple – as to whether he should enjoy joint custody of the toddler.
"The case is utterly unique and unprecedented," Fennelly wrote in his dissenting opinion, noting that neither the parental rights of sperm donors nor lesbian couples had been nailed down in Irish law.
"Both situations are entirely novel for our courts," he wrote.
Neither side has been publicly identified by name, in keeping with Ireland's policy of granting anonymity to people in family law cases.
The lesbian couple – one partjner from Ireland, the other from Australia – exchanged marriage-style vows in England in January 2006, one month after civil unions were legalized in the United Kingdom.
The Irish woman had already become pregnant through an Irish sperm donor, who signed a contract that recognized his rights to visit the child and ensured that he knew his biological father. It also stipulated that, if the birth mother died, he would have a say in the child's guardianship.
The boy, born in May 2006, received his biological father's name as his middle name, and the lesbian couple initially granted the man regular visits with the newborn. But tensions quickly grew, both sides' lawyers agreed.
The couple initially restricted the man's access, then announced they planned to travel to Australia for up to a year. The man launched two lawsuits in March, one to restrict the Australian trip and the other to seek joint custody. The latter case is scheduled to be heard in the autumn.
Thursday's verdict upheld a judgment by High Court Justice Henry Abbott, who ruled that the lesbian couple could travel with the child to Australia for a maximum of six weeks, then must hand over their passports upon return to Ireland. He suggested that, even as a sperm donor, the man should be legally recognized as the boy's father.
Abbott called the coming 12 months "a critical year" in the boy's development, "a year when a bond is about to open up on an objective scale, a reciprocal scale, between father and son."
The majority opinion of the Supreme Court agreed that, until the man's custody claim could be considered, the boy should be permitted to travel outside Ireland for only a limited period. - AP
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