Sperm donor case: Former same-sex partner seeks involvement

Citing a first-of-its-kind Kansas Supreme Court ruling made Friday, Topekan Angela Bauer on Wednesday sought the right to intervene in a case in which the state contends sperm donor William Marotta is legally the father of the daughter born to her former lesbian partner, Jennifer Schreiner.

In essence, Bauer is seeking co-parenting rights.

Attorney Joseph W. Booth, representing Bauer, filed a motion seeking the right for her to intervene as an interested party in a civil case the Kansas Department for Children and Families is pursuing contending Marotta legally isn’t a sperm donor but rather the father of Schreiner’s child.

Booth made reference to Friday’s high court ruling in the Johnson County case of Frazier v. Goudschaal that a nonbiological mother of children in a same-sex relationship can have the same rights as the biological mother.

Booth wrote: “It is the child’s constitutional right to have both Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer named as co-parents. The Frazier case also found that a co-parent in the position of Angela Bauer has standing under the Kansas Parentage Act.”

Meanwhile, attorney Benoit Swinnen, representing Marotta, filed a motion Wednesday seeking an order to have Bauer be joined as a “necessary party” in the case.

Swinnen’s motion also quoted Friday’s Supreme Court ruling. He noted that Bauer attempted to cause the Department for Children and Families to look to Bauer for the financial responsibility it is attempting to attach to Marotta.

Swinnen quoted the high court decision in writing: “A harmonious reading of all the (Kansas Parentage Act) provisions indicates that a female can make a colorable claim to being a presumptive mother of a child without claiming to be the biological or adoptive mother, and, therefore, can be an ‘interested party’ who is authorized to bring an action to establish the existing of a mother and child relationship.”

The Department for Children and Families filed the case in October seeking to have Marotta declared the father of a 3-year-old girl Schreiner bore in 2009 in Topeka, so he can be forced to pay child support.

Marotta is fighting the attempt. He says he signed a contract waiving parental rights and responsibilities while agreeing to donate sperm he provided in a plastic cup to Schreiner and Bauer, who were then lesbian partners but are no longer together. Marotta contacted them after they placed an advertisement seeking a sperm donor on Craigslist.

The state contends the agreement was moot because Marotta and the women didn’t follow a Kansas statute requiring a licensed physician to perform the artificial insemination.

Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi, who is hearing the case, last month scheduled an evidentiary hearing for April 9 and 10 and oral arguments for June 17.

Booth indicated in Wednesday’s motion that Bauer and Schreiner intend to enter into a parenting plan and wish to have it approved by the court that is hearing the state’s case against Marotta.

Booth wrote, “The parenting plan resolves the custody and support issues for the benefit of the minor child.”

Swinnen’s motion contended that in Bauer’s absence, “the court cannot accord complete relief among existing parties.”

Swinnen added that Bauer “claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that disposing of the action in (Bauer’s) absence may as a practical matter, impair or impede (Bauer’s) ability to protect the interest.”

Swinnen’s motion quoted the Supreme Court ruling in writing that should the state lose its case against Marotta, Schreiner’s daughter would be denied the opportunity to have two parents through a co-parenting arrangement, which “does not comport with the constitutional mandate to provide substantive legal equality for all children regardless of the marital status of their parents.”