A man who donated
his sperm to a lesbian couple won a legal fight
Thursday to keep his biological son in Ireland.
The judgment by
Ireland's supreme court was a first in the nation, a
predominantly Roman Catholic country where the rights of
same-sex couples and sperm donors have not been
spelled out. Now the couple, wed in a civil union
ceremony in England, cannot spend long periods in Australia
with their 14-month-old boy as planned but can only vacation
there for up to six weeks.
Another courtroom
battle between the man and the couple looms over joint
custody of the boy.
Two justices,
Susan Denham and Joseph Finnegan, ruled that the toddler's
best interests required him to stay in Ireland near his
biological father. The third judge, Justice Nial
Fennelly, disagreed, arguing that no evidence was
offered that the boy would be harmed by leaving Ireland.
''The case is
utterly unique and unprecedented,'' Fennelly wrote in his
dissent, noting that the parental rights of neither sperm
donors nor lesbian couples are defined in Irish law.
Neither side has
been publicly identified, following Ireland's policy of
granting anonymity to family law litigants.
The lesbian
couple--an Irish woman and an
Australian--exchanged vows in January 2006, just
after same-sex civil unions were legalized in the
United Kingdom. The Irish woman was pregnant by the Irish
sperm donor, who signed a contract giving him
visitation rights.
The boy, born in
May 2006, has his biological father's name as his middle
name, and the lesbian couple initially granted the man
regular visits. But tensions quickly grew, both sides'
lawyers agreed.
The couple
restricted the man's access to the boy, then announced they
planned to go to Australia for up to a year. The man filed
two lawsuits--one to restrict the trip and
another seeking joint custody. The custody case is to
be heard this fall.
Thursday's
verdict upheld a judgment by high court justice Henry
Abbott, who ruled the lesbian couple could take the
boy to Australia for six weeks. The supreme court held
that until the custody claim is considered, the boy
should travel outside Ireland for only a limited period.
(Shawn Pogatchnik, AP)
