# What Would Happen Legally if a Female Got Pregnant with Involuntarily Stolen Sperm? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317 "2011-04-14T02:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/21 "2011-04-14T12:02:41Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > [Found it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298837). > > Basically the same thing, but it’s the thread I was looking for. > > What these all seem to come down to is the judge saying “Look, you’re the mom, you’re the dad, I don’t care how your sperm got to her egg, I’m not going to let the child suffer, you’re splitting the cost of raising the child, end of story” > With that, (and I’m not the legal type, so don’t take my word for it), it seems that the father is more then welcome to sue the mother for theft, but from skimming the articles, the sperm is apparently a ‘gift’ that she was free to do what she wants with blah blah blah, but it’s causing him stress and sleepless nights etc…anyways, that seems to be the recourse. > I’m sure there’d be a more definite answer if it was something that happened more often. by that logic, a woman impregnated by rape would be obligated to carry and deliver the child. That judge is (IMO) a fucking lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/22 "2011-04-14T12:54:05Z")
(IANAD) Generally, sperm has to be properly stored to be usable. The maid won’t have much luck, since sperm that dries out too much is dead. It’s not a matter of just add water. The only viable “trick” so to speak, would be a used condom or similar receptacle where evaporation was limited. Of course, cases like this are few and far between, so what the judge might decide in any such case is wide open to discussion. (well, here we are…) The oral-to-baby case above sounds like there were some interesting dynamics in the relationship, I would guess the suit for support was part of a get-even strategy against a guy finally trying to run away from a whacko and a mistake. Tricking some guy into getting her pregnant is a common story. Of course, only 1 person knows the whole truth, and unless she blurts it out in an argument (or on YouTube?) you’ll never be sure. Considering that for many people it’s hard enough to get pregnant when you try, it would be a long shot but not impossible to find misplaced sperm and succeed with it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/23 "2011-04-14T13:15:19Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > by that logic, a woman impregnated by rape would be obligated to carry and deliver the child. That judge is (IMO) a fucking lunatic. By which logic? Mine or the one in the linked thread? I don’t see how my hypothetical judge has anything to do with stopping a rape victim from aborting the fetus. As for the judge in the linked thread, I really didn’t read it that closely, but I didn’t see where the judge was forcing a rape victim to carry a baby to term. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/24 "2011-04-14T13:21:48Z")
In some states it would depend on her marital status; off the top of my head I can think of at least 2 states where the child of a married couple automatically has the husband as Father on the birth certificate until someone else comes forward desiring to prove paternity. AFAIK she couldn’t force the sperm donor to file a claim. But otherwise, I don’t see how he could avoid being liable for support if his sperm wasn’t stolen from the custody of a medical setting. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/25 "2011-04-14T13:24:42Z")
My sister the lesbian’s partner got pregnant via a sperm bank. The contract the donors have to sign is huge, basically trying to make sure the donor has no legal rights to any child conceived with his donated sperm. Even so, there have been some court cases by donors trying to gain access to their child. If a woman gets pregnant via rape and has a child, the guy can insist on DNA testing and, if he’s the father, can sue for paternal rights. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/26 "2011-04-14T14:37:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’m sure there’d be a more definite answer if it was something that happened more often. Undoubtedly. Our legal system is heavily based on (and I’m sure there’s some fancy Latin term for it) “Making It Up As We Go.” Absent strong precedents, it would be up to the court system to sort this out, so I don’t think there can be any definitive answer until a case like the one in the OP were to actually come to trial. (And I can’t imagine that’s very likely.) IMO, I’d argue that the unwilling sperm donor should not be held liable for support. While pregnancy is a reasonably foreseeable outcome of consensual sexual activity (even with precautions), it is _not_ a reasonably foreseeable outcome of masturbating alone in one’s dorm room. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/27 "2011-04-14T14:46:30Z")
Mere seconds before opening this thread I was reading about “Wierd things famous people insure,” on [msn.com](http://msn.com). Dolly Parton’s tits, Gene Simmons tongue, AND David Lee Roth’s sperm. According to the short blurb it was to protect himself from just this sort of thing. Now, who’s OP is wacky and far out? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/28 "2011-04-14T16:25:55Z")
Here’s a staff report on sperm bank daddies being made to pay up: [Can a sperm donor be forced to pay child support? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2883/can-a-sperm-donor-be-forced-to-pay-child-support) EDIT TO ADD: Link has a cite for Der Trihs claim of statutory rape dad being made to pay. In our legal system, Dad’s = ATMs and the courts are going to make him pay up no matter what. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/29 "2011-04-14T16:26:32Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > In some states it would depend on her marital status; off the top of my head I can think of at least 2 states where the child of a married couple automatically has the husband as Father on the birth certificate until someone else comes forward desiring to prove paternity. AFAIK she couldn’t force the sperm donor to file a claim. > > But otherwise, I don’t see how he could avoid being liable for support if his sperm wasn’t stolen from the custody of a medical setting. Worse than that - in some states (California?) even a DNA test won’t change legal paternity. This is apparently based on pre-DNA law, where the courts did not want to be re-deciding parental status and rights over and over. IIRC, once you have parental responsibility, after 2 years unchallenged the court will not let you change it, even with new incontrovertible evidence. The logic is that a child forms a parental bond, biological or not. A parent cannot arbitrarily change this. Also, I read of one case where the new girlfriend tossed the papers in the garbage and nevertold the guy. Even though he was nowhere near the ex-gf at conception time, the case was never heard, he lost by default. He knew nothing about this; when they collection agency caught up wiht him several years later ('surprise, you’re a dad, a deadbeat and you owe $XX,XXX"), even a DNA test could not change that. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/30 "2011-04-14T18:14:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Worse than that - in some states (California?) even a DNA test won’t change legal paternity. This is apparently based on pre-DNA law, where the courts did not want to be re-deciding parental status and rights over and over. IIRC, once you have parental responsibility, after 2 years unchallenged the court will not let you change it, even with new incontrovertible evidence. The logic is that a child forms a parental bond, biological or not. A parent cannot arbitrarily change this. Also, I read of one case where the new girlfriend tossed the papers in the garbage and nevertold the guy. Even though he was nowhere near the ex-gf at conception time, the case was never heard, he lost by default. He knew nothing about this; when they collection agency caught up wiht him several years later ('surprise, you’re a dad, a deadbeat and you owe $XX,XXX"), even a DNA test could not change that. and here I was thinking that the stolen condoms bit is the lowest point of open, blatant injustice that the family “law” system can get to. So, yeah, I was wrong. So what should be a proper response to such threats for all those broke-up-with-gf men who may be at risk of such treatment? Is there some publicly available database of paternity claims that they could monitor in order to pounce on any BS claim as soon as it comes up? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/31 "2011-04-14T18:41:59Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > If the guy is raped, should he have to pay child support? > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It’s not quite the same thing, but I have read of cases where an underage boy got an older woman pregnant, and was forced to pay child support to the woman who legally raped him. Sure: _State Ex Rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer_, 847 P. 2d 1273 (Kan. 1993): > [@](#): > > Colleen Hermesmann routinely provided care for Shane Seyer as a baby sitter or day care provider during 1987 and 1988. The two began a sexual relationship at a time when Colleen was 16 years old and Shane was only 12. The relationship continued over a period of several months and the parties engaged in sexual intercourse on an average of a couple of times a week. As a result, a daughter, Melanie, was born to Colleen on May 30, 1989. At the time of the conception of the child, Shane was 13 years old and Colleen was 17. Colleen applied for and received financial assistance through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (ADC) from SRS. > . > . > . > Shane does not contest that he is the biological father of the child. As a father, he has a common-law duty, as well as a statutory duty, to support his minor child. (citations omitted). > > Under the statutory and common law of this state, Shane owes a duty to support his minor child. K.S.A. 1992 Supp. 21-3503 does not apply to a civil proceeding and cannot serve to relieve Shane of his legal responsibilities towards his child. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/32 "2011-04-14T19:48:52Z")
> [@treis](#): > > In our legal system, Dad’s = ATMs and the courts are going to make him pay up no matter what. I don’t think it’s that so much as it is the worry that if you say “You have to pay for the children you sire, unless the sperm was stolen” will give rise to every putative father asserting just that. And courts don’t want to be in the business of doing analyses of just exactly where the sperm was deposited. Not because they are being delicate, but because it’s likely to be a pretty difficult enterprise with very little in the way of evidence save the conflicting account of the parents. Sometimes we have to decide cases where that is the only available evidence. In this instance, however, our courts (and our legislatures, by their inaction) have decided that the risks of requiring (the probably very few, but obviously not zero) sperm theft victims to pay child support does not outweigh complicating the far greater number of paternity suits where this issue is not present but where the defense will nevertheless be raised. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/33 "2011-04-14T20:33:28Z")
How is it that single women are legally allowed access to artificial insemination? Given that the courts have determined that the magic number of people that should financially support a child is 2 and that child support is a right of the child and not the parent, isn’t the single mother abdicating a right that isn’t hers? ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/34 "2011-04-14T20:35:31Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Why, on Earth would a woman do this? What if the sperm belonged to a man who had excellent traits (athletic, handsome, smart, accomplished musician, etc.) or was just plain rich/powerful/famous…and the woman was stalkerish? She might see that as an in to the man’s life. Wasn’t there a movie based on this premise? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/35 "2011-04-14T21:13:42Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > and here I was thinking that the stolen condoms bit is the lowest point of open, blatant injustice that the family “law” system can get to. So, yeah, I was wrong. > > So what should be a proper response to such threats for all those broke-up-with-gf men who may be at risk of such treatment? Is there some publicly available database of paternity claims that they could monitor in order to pounce on any BS claim as soon as it comes up? Actually, one point in the article was that the Family Services departement responsible for ensuring papers were served was being deliberately lax. Once the papers were allegedly served, the “father” was a no-show, and 2 years had elapsed it was too late for anything. The new gf tossing the served papers in the trash was the kindest bit - at least the papers went to the right address. The department would routinely send to old drivers license addresses, college dorms, and where the baby-mama told them to send. If the letter ended up in the trash - well, they went to court, swore the papers had been served to the best of their knowledge, and that was that. Whereas in Canada, even being common-law for 6 months might earn you a 18-plus years of child support. The courts say that acting like a father - helping raise the kid, signing school permission slips, etc. - can mean you have a parental replationship, adopted or not, married or not. You are now on the hook for child support if you break up. And… the province of Quebec touts its wonderful new child-friendly policy, changing the law a few years ago. Unlike the rest of Canada, in Quebec if you have additional children with other (non)spouse(s) your payments to the first child’s mother will go down; whereas in the rest of Canada, having more children does not mean you pay less to the mother of the first claimant. The problem with the underage father is that the law is wrtten as it is written. Judges will often jump through legal hoops to twist the law to the result they want, or they feel is right. (see _States, United, Supreme Court of_…) but when the law is pretty clear and unambiguously written, especially the lower court justices cannot just pull exceptions out of their headgear or rear. ---
**Author:** ![code\_grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/36 "2011-04-14T22:10:00Z")
**md2000** , the issue you bring up with boyfriends of women with children in Canada is ugly but not, err, abhorrent. If you see the child there and don’t flee into the night “don’t say you haven’t been warned”. But the notification bit is much worse - here the government imposes the time-limited burden of contesting paternity but makes it unclear how to handle this burden in a number of fairly common cases. So what are men supposed to do? Is there an office where you or your representative can go to ask “have ladies XGF1, XGF2 and XGF3 claimed me as the alleged father of a child over the past 2 months?” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/37 "2011-04-14T23:06:56Z")
> [@code\_grey](#): > > So what are men supposed to do? Hand over money. Whether you’ve been informed or not, or are actually the father or not, as a man it is your function to hand over money to women. You’re an ATM with legs, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/38 "2011-04-14T23:28:28Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > …Whereas in Canada, even being common-law for 6 months might earn you a 18-plus years of child support. The courts say that acting like a father - helping raise the kid, signing school permission slips, etc. - can mean you have a parental replationship, adopted or not, married or not. You are now on the hook for child support if you break up… Interesting, can this apply even if the mother is already getting child support from another man for the child? :eek: It would be extremely fucked up (even more so than American CS laws) if a woman could force mulitple men to pay her child support _for the same child_? Also, I assume the same is true if the genders are reversed. A single father with sole custody can breakup with his live-in girlfriend ans sue her for child support based on the fact that he let her pick-up the kid from school and do other “parentaly” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/39 "2011-04-15T09:58:46Z")
On skimming the thread, the famous [Boris Becker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Becker#Relationships) doesn’t seem to have been mentioned yet. Basically, he was already known as rich\* ex-tennis star and also married with a wife and some normal kids, when he had an encounter with an attractive woman in an UK hotel and spend some 5 min. in the next broom closet, getting oral sex. The woman managed to keep some sperm from this encounter, impregnated herself and after the birth of the child sued Becker for child support. The court basically decided that “It’s genetically your child, how it was conceived doesn’t matter, so pay up”. That the woman was obviously a gold digger out for his money (can’t have been his looks or IQ), that the whole media scandal will harm the child later on (imagine reading in the newspapers that the sole reason you were conceived was to get money from a celebrity! That must suck) - didn’t matter as much as the DNA. (And yes, I wish the laws would be updated to change that. - I don’t know whether he’s still as rich as people believe him to be - he earned some money with winning tournaments and sponsors, but IIRC, he (like many other child stars and sports stars) found out that his manager (his father, I think) had invested the money badly, illegally, lost some money and he owed a huge tax debt from undeclared money. So maybe he doesn’t have much left. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317/40 "2011-04-15T11:28:33Z")
I want to point out that if a woman is raped and bears the child, she is also responsible for the child’s support. It’s true that she has the right to abort, but once the child exists, it is entitled to support from both its parents: if a woman were to go to a court and say “I really wanted an abortion but my asshole boyfriend kept me locked in a closet the whole nine months”, that would not in any way diminish her responsibilities to the child. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-legally-if-a-female-got-pregnant-with-involuntarily-stolen-sperm/578317.md?page=3)