Legal document protecting sperm donor

More and more women are using sperm donors to get pregnant, often because they are in a same sex relationship or are single but feel ready to have a child. These two questions are interlinked, as under the law you can only use an unknown sperm donor through a licensed organisation. It is unlawful for an unlicensed organisation to provide you with a sperm sample. Often, a licensed clinic will not allow you to take the sperm sample home to use, so you may find that the only way to use an unknown donor is at a clinic. It is important to note that if a child is conceived via intercourse the biological father will always be considered the legal parent, regardless of whether or not they are named on the birth certificate. Most women who use a licensed fertility clinic use unknown donor sperm.

Tell Me More guest host Tony Cox continues the discussion on regulating reproductive services. For a legal perspective now on the reproductive medicine industry, we turn to Naomi Cahn. She is a professor of law at the George Washington University, specializing in family law and reproductive technology. Can you give us a quick overview of what laws and regulations are currently in place for this industry? CAHN: The federal government regulates the fertility industry in two different ways.

In effort to best serve the legal needs of the residents of the Greater Philadelphia and Southern NJ areas, our law office provides video and phone meetings with an experienced lawyer. If you would like to schedule a meeting with one of our lawyers, please contact us at Thank you. This is especially true here in Pennsylvania, where genetics plays a huge role in how the law approaches paternity issues. Thus, in some cases sperm donors can sue for parental rights.

Same sex couples should always consult with an attorney who can advise them of how to best protect the rights of both mothers and also the child. Artificial insemination is a cheaper and physically easier procedure to achieve pregnancy. Same-sex couples using any form of IVF need to be certain to consult with an attorney early in the process as medical clinic consent forms are not typically designed to accommodate such family building options and the use of consent forms designed for heterosexual couples can create legal complications down the road. Some states require that a physician perform the insemination procedure; other states permit at-home insemination.