Kansas wants Craigslist sperm donor to pay child support

Back in 2009, a lesbian couple in Kansas wanted to have a child and sought a man to provide sperm for artificial insemination. William Marotta—a married mechanic and foster parent—responded to the ad and, as a result, Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner were able to have a daughter. Flash forward three years and Bauer and Schreiner have split up. Schreiner was short on money, so she applied for government assistance and now Kansas wants Marotta to make child support payments.

Marotta signed a document to forfeit all parental rights and ensure that he wouldn't be held accountable for any child support payments at the request of Bauer, Schreiner, or any third party, including the district attorney's office.

After reportedly being pressed to give up the identity of her daughter's biological father, Schreiner gave up Marotta's name and, in October, attorney Mark McMillan filed a petition on behalf of the Department of Children and Families in an effort to have Moratta named the father and held accountable for child support payments. McMillan is arguing that—because a licensed physician did not perform the artificial insemination—the agreement between Marotta and the woman's mother is void. [Kansas City Star]