Legal Aspects / Parental Responsibilities
The donor has no legal claim on any child resulting from treatment with his semen.
For married heterosexual couples, any child born to a woman following donor insemination will be legally the child of the male partner who is treated with her, unless at the time of treatment:
- The man and woman are judicially separated.
- It is proven that the husband did not consent to his wife undergoing the procedure of intrauterine insemination using donor sperm, and he was not receiving treatment services with the woman.
For unmarried heterosexual couples, or couples who have undergone a judicial separation, the male partner will be the legal father if he gives written acknowledgement agreeing to treatment as a couple.
However, where an unmarried couple is being treated, the male partner will not have “parental responsibility”. Parental responsibility can be defined as all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority, which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property, (Section 3(1) Children’s Act 1989). In order to obtain parental responsibility, the father may apply to court for these rights, or the father and mother may make ‘a parental responsibility agreement’ to allow for the father’s parental responsibility to the child.
The clinic must document the presence of the male partner at each appointment.
In this guide
