Ohio Donor Insemination Law
Ohio law explicitly strips a donor of any legal relationship to a child conceived via donor insemination. Physician supervision is required, and at least one court has held that a violation of this requirement voids any agreement between a known donor and a recipient to remove the donor’s parental rights.
State law provides that a semen donor will not be treated or regarded as the natural father of a child conceived as a result of artificial insemination. It sets up numerous medical screening requirements for donors. The law also requires physician supervision, but it only requires that a physician be available for consultation and direction, not necessarily physically present during the insemination.
Cases Dealing with Donor Insemination
In one 1994 case, C.O. v. W.S., W.S. and her female partner arranged to have a child with C.O. and his male partner. C.O. donated semen and W.S. was artificially inseminated, although there was some argument as to whether there was physician supervision of the procedure. The parties agreed before the child’s birth that C.O. would be a “male role model” for the child, but there was a dispute between the parties as to whether this was meant to include all the rights and responsibilities of fatherhood. C.O. was denied visitation after the child’s birth and filed suit to determine paternity, custody and support. The Court of Common Pleas found that the parties’ failure to comply with statutory medical requirements voided the agreement, which would have circumvented Ohio law regarding the donor’s legal relationship to the child. In addition, the court found that nothing in the law prevents a paternity adjudication “where an unmarried woman solicits the participation of a donor, who was known to her, and where the donor and woman agree that there would be a relationship between the donor and child.” The court found C.O. to be the child’s father and ordered investigations to determine custody, support and visitation.
Citations: OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 3111.88-99 (2003); C.O. v. W.S., 639 N.E.2d 523 (Ct. Com. Pl., Cuyahoga County 1994).
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Last Updated: 8/30/2004