State of Kansas files child support claim against sperm donor

• Flickr: jimmywayne
• It should be an interesting start to the year at the Shawnee County Courthouse.

In what is sure to be a landmark parental rights case, the state of Kansas is seeking child support payments from a sperm donor. The Topeka Capitol-Journal has the story of Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, a lesbian couple in Topeka, who after fostering and adopting several children, wanted to have a child of their own.

William Marotta, the man whom Kansas is suing for child support, answered an advertisement that the couple had placed on Craigslist. Schreiner was inseminated at home, and a girl was born on December 7, 2009. When Schreiner filed for Medicaid coverage for her daughter, the Department of Children and Family Services learned of Marotta (only Schreiner’s name had appeared on the birth certificate). And even though Marotta (who is married), signed a contract waiving his parental responsibilities, the state of Kansas doesn’t agree. A hearing has been set for January 8 in Shawnee County District Court.