Most of the child support cases we read come about when a man refuses to pay child support. But on October 26, 2007, the Kansas Supreme Court, in a split decision, ruled that a man who wants to pay child support can't because under Kansas law he could not be the legal father even though he was the biological father.

Here are some excerpts from the opinion:

The mother, S.H., is an unmarried female lawyer who wanted to become a parent through artificial insemination from a known donor. She was a friend of the donor, D.H., an unmarried male nonlawyer, who agreed to provide sperm for the insemination. Both S.H. and D.H. are Kansas residents, and their oral arrangements for the donation occurred in Kansas, but S.H. underwent two inseminations with D.H.'s sperm in Missouri.

D.H. accompanied S.H. to a Missouri clinic for the first procedure and provided the necessary sperm to medical personnel. The first procedure did not result in a pregnancy. D.H. did not accompany S.H. to Missouri for the second procedure. Instead, he provided the sperm to S.H., and she delivered it to the Missouri physician responsible for the insemination. The second procedure resulted in S.H.'s pregnancy and the birth of the twins.

There was no formal written contract between S.H. and D.H. concerning the donation of sperm, the artificial insemination, or the expectations of the parties with regard to D.H.'s parental rights or lack thereof.

After the children were born, the mother sued the father to terminate his parental rights. She alleged that he "was morally, financially, and emotionally unfit to be a father."

In the end, the mother won because the agreement with the father was not in writing. According to Kansas Statutes Annotated 38-1114(f), "The donor of semen provided to a licensed physician for use in artificial insemination of a woman other than the donor's wife is treated in law as if he were not the birth father of a child thereby conceived, unless agreed to in writing by the donor and the woman."

Tags: child support, sperm donor