Jan. 24, 2014
(CNN) — A Kansas sperm donor caught in the middle of a child support case says he wanted to help a lesbian couple when he made the donation nearly five years ago.
Instead, he may end up paying for his action.
A judge ruled Thursday that William Marotta must pay child support, even though he says he signed documents waiving his parental rights.
Shawnee County District Court Judge Mary Mattivi said Marotta failed to conform to Kansas law, which says a licensed physician must be involved in an artificial insemination process, court documents show.
The documents show that the lesbian couple whom Marotta helped conceive a child say they performed the artificial insemination procedure at home.
‘I donated genetic material, and that was it’
This story begins on Craigslist in March 2009. That was when Marotta noticed an advertisement from the Topeka couple, seeking donated sperm.
“Intrigued” by the ad, he says, he delivered three cupfuls of his sperm — gratis — to the women.
One of the women gave birth to a daughter in December 2009, according to court documents.
“I donated genetic material, and that was it for me,” he told CNN affiliate WIBW.
Or so he thought. That changed when the parents separated and one of the women stopped working because of illness and applied to the state for help, he said. The state contacted Marotta for child support.
Kansas officials were not persuaded by what Marotta says were agreements he signed, before making his donations, that he would assume no financial responsibility for the child, who is now 4 years old.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families said any agreement would not apply because a physician did not perform the insemination.
Marotta said that was news to him.