Birth Photography

[Duchess]

I'd be asking for a great deal more than fifty grand, that's for damn sure.

[username]

I had my kids via in-vitro after I found out my tubes were fucked up. My son looked like a little Hispanic when he was born. I was pretty sure they'd mixed somebody else's sperm in with my husband's when they shot me up.

He grew out of it but I loved the little spic from the moment I laid eyes on him. I later found out that the place where we had in-vitro DID screw up at least once which resulted in a law suit. But I'm pretty sure the little amigo is a combination of my genetics and my husband's now. At minimum, I'm sure he has some of my genes.

The couple has every right to sue but I feel bad for that child. One day, she's going to learn that her parents sued the doctors over her birth. That's just sad.

[Cutz]

Gotta agree with Blueb. There's nothing racial about the case. Of the 5 factors needed for a negligence case, the only questionable one is injury. "Needing to move" is not an injury from a legal standpoint... they're perfectly capable of raising the kid in their neighborhood despite perceived bias. Perceived injuries are not legal injuries. You certainly wouldn't want to argue that the kid being black is an injury...

However, they certainly have a strong case on their hands for general business lawsuit. Company promised to deliver one thing and gave them another, probably even violates a contract. 50 grand doesn't seem extraordinary to ask for... the compensatory damages should be negligible but pain and suffering and punitive damages always vary by state and court. They'd be better off saying they're not looking to move and it will cause them and their child serious future pain and suffering. They could win millions.

[blueberryhill]

I was reading more articles about this couple and it appears that they have received a lot of grief from their families about their being gay. Not very open-minded, strained relationships, now they add a bi-racial child to the mix and guess family is in uproar now. I get the impression that they live in an all white neighborhood and I can understand that they could get a lot of negative feedback from their neighbors. We know that those neighborhoods still exist, now don't we.....I agree with everyone who says they need to be reimbursed for the emotional and psychological issues which have beset them. They have suffered quite a bit, in my opinion, because of family issues, prejudices of their neighbors, etc. not to mention this precious little girl being at the center of it. It is too easy for other people to judge them, but that Sperm Bank has to be accountable here for their typo or whatever led to the mix-up and should pay damages for mental anguish. I hope that as this little girl grows up, she will be loved unconditionally, and will understand her parents' motivations in a positive light. Sperm Bank pay up (I would also make sure college fund is included in the amount just for good measure).

[Duchess]

probably even violates a contract.

Yeah. They asked for a blue eyed blonde so the kid would look like them.

[HairOfTheDog]

Midwest Sperm Bank buys and sells sperm. They made a mistake in processing an order, which they didn't try to hide. MSB didn't realize their huge error until a second order was placed; at which time, they came clean about it right away. MSB should pay reasonably to compensate the customer for that mistake; the $50k amount and rationale sounds reasonable to me.

"Breach of Warranty" and "Contract Violation" is essentially the same thing, in this case. Breach of Warranty is defined as a violation of an agreement between a seller and a buyer as to the condition, content, quality, or title of the item sold. Crambellt has a solid case for breach of warranty, IMO. Even though MSB appears to have delivered viable sperm at the price and in the amount contracted, that sperm was not according to spec. MSB's website promises high standards of operation and quality assurance procedures -- something they didn't deliver in this case. Website: http://midwestspermbank.com/st/

But, as far as I can see, MSB isn't a physicians' organization. And, cutie pie Payton was delivered properly by a qualified physician and she is healthy. I don't see any "wrongful birth" here.

"Wrongful Birth": a legal cause of action in which the parents of a congenitally diseased child claim that their doctor failed to properly warn of their risk of conceiving or giving birth to a child with serious genetic or congenital abnormalities. Thus, the plaintiffs claim, the defendant prevented them from making a truly informed decision as to whether or not to have the child. Wrongful birth is a type of medical malpractice tort recognized in about half of US states.

If MSB were to settle a suit which claims wrongful birth out of court, I think it might open the door for Crambellt to file future suits asking for MSB to assume financial responsibility of Payton's healthcare and other obligations normally handled by parents. I'd be hesitant to settle with Crambellt too were I legal counsel for MSB. I'd pony up the $50k for breach quickly to avoid this type of terrible media exposure and because it's the right thing to do -- on the condition that the "wrongful birth" claim be dropped. (I wonder if MSB has made such an offer and Crambellt refused?)

Anyway, I can see why some on Facebook are critical of Crambellt. I'd not equate a healthy mixed race child to a child with genetic defects or abnormalities myself. JMO. If Crambellt had limited her suit to breach of warranty, asked for $50k to relocate Payton to a place where she'd have more exposure to racial diversity + some parenting counseling (that's reasonable, IMO), and asked for a plan/assurance that MSB would review its order taking/processing procedures, she would have been pursuing all of her stated goals. I question Crambellt's decision to go further and put Payton in the media spotlight as the product of a wrongful birth and to focus interviews and media statements largely on her own negative childhood and family experiences as a lesbian. Were I she in the same situation, I absolutely would not have done so if all I wanted was acknowledgment of error, reasonable compensation, improved MSB procedures, and the best interest of my child.

[Duchess]

I'm not turning my nose up at fifty grand but it's not really that much money and I think it's a pittance in this particular case. This was an error of some magnitude. I'm glad that the family were not so horrified that they chose to give that baby up because the reality is there are couples out there that would have.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I haven't seen anybody here disagree that the sperm bank made a significant error and should be held legally accountable, or that $50k is unreasonable. I think Cramblett will and should be successful in that pursuit. Heck, she could probably get that much or more if she set up a GoFundMe donations page.

I question the wrongful birth claim, however, and do not believe she will or should be successful there based on what's been published in the media and the interview I watched with her. In her lawsuit, she states anxiety and fear as harm caused to her as a result of Payton's birth. But, her explanations revolve around that harm stemming from her her peers', her family's, and the the community's intolerance when she was growing up lesbian. That intolerance and its effects was not created by the sperm bank. And Payton, by all accounts, is not abnormal or defective as "wrongful birth" requires.

Anyway, I personally wouldn't have thought less of the couple if rather than claim wrongful birth, they'd chosen to have an abortion once they found out the error -- given their high level of fear and anxiety for a mixed race child. But, I recognize how devastating that would have been as well. I believe Stinton was in mid second trimester at the time of the discovery.

Shouldn't have happened -- no doubt. But, it did. Interesting case from both social and legal perspectives.

[Maggot]

Let this be a lesson to all Lezzies...........If you want a kid go find someone with the characteristics that they want and pay them to jerk off in a cup. See two girls one cup revisited in a completely different light. No poop though no-no.

[cannongal]

Let this be a lesson to all Lezzies...........If you want a kid go find someone with the characteristics that they want and pay them to jerk off in a cup. See two girls one cup revisited in a completely different light. No poop though no-no.

a lesbian couple did just that....Now the guy that 'donated' sperm has to pay child support.

Les/child support story


TOPEKA-

A man who provided sperm to a lesbian couple in response to an online ad is the father of a child born to one of the women and must pay child support, a Kansas judge ruled Wednesday.

Topeka resident William Marotta had argued that he had waived his parental rights and didn’t intend to be a father.

Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi rejected that claim, saying the parties didn’t involve a licensed physician in the artificial insemination process and thus Marotta didn’t qualify as a sperm donor, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

“In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to perform to statutory requirement of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties’ self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental right and responsibilities to the child,” Mattivi wrote.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families filed the case in October 2012, seeking to have Marotta declared the father of a child born to Jennifer Schreiner in 2009. The state’s objective was to hold Marotta responsible for about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided, as well as future child support.

Marotta opposed that action, saying he had contacted Schreiner and her partner at the time, Angela Bauer, in response to an ad they placed on Craigslist seeking a sperm donor. He said he signed a contract waiving his parental rights and responsibilities.

Attorneys for the state contended the contract was moot because the parties didn’t follow a 1994 Kansas law requiring a licensed physician to perform the artificial insemination when donors were involved.

During oral arguments at a hearing in October, Timothy Keck, co-lead counsel for the state, said the case focused on child support.

Marotta’s attorney, Benoit Swinnen, cited several court rulings that he said support the argument that Marotta is legally a sperm donor and not required to pay child support. Swinnen also argued that the Kansas statute doesn’t specifically require the artificial insemination to be carried out by a physician.

Court documents show Schreiner indicated she didn’t know the name of the donor or “have any information” about him in her application for child support. However, a sperm donor contract between Marotta and the couple includes his name, and the agency noted the couple talked about their appreciation for him in an interview with The Capital-Journal.

A filing Wednesday by the Department for Children and Families argues the sperm donor contract overlooks “the well-established law in this state that a person cannot contract away his or her obligations to support their child.”

The right for support belongs to the child, not the parents, the filing says.

The agency said it also received different versions of the donor contract from Marotta and Schreiner, suggesting that the document “may be invalid on its face.”

“We stand by that contract,” Swinnen said. “The insinuation is offensive, and we are responding vigorously to that. … There was no personal relationship whatsoever between my client and the mother, or the partner of the mother, or the child. Anything the state insinuates is vilifying my client, and I will address it.”

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I feel conflicted about that one, cannongal.

Sounds like the women decided to have a baby, went about it in an unstructured way, broke up, and now want the state to bear the cost of supporting the child.

On the one hand, I can see where the state --via tax payers --doesn't wanna pay to support yet another child whose parent(s) can't or won't, if there's an alternate support option. It's not really clear to me who the parents are "legally" in this case, outside of Schreiner as the mother. I wonder if there was any legal documentation that Schreiner's female partner at the time was assuming a co-parenting role and what's noted on the birth certificate?

On the other hand, plenty of heterosexual couples have babies through natural insemination without sufficient means to care for them -- and then ask for state support and get it.

Then again, states also vigorously pursue child support from biological fathers who naturally inseminated women but had no desire or intention to co-parent or to support a resultant child. Should it be any different in this case because the biological father inseminated the biological mother artificially rather than through sexual intercourse? Personally, I think it should be, based on Moratta's intent to simply donate sperm and his intent to waive parental rights and responsibilities in advance -- doesn't seem right that he should have to pay. But, if the waiver he signed with the women wasn't legally valid, I could see him losing the case.

[Duchess]

I think it sucks that he could be forced into paying. He gave those women a gift and signed off on everything. I hope others learn from this.

No good deed goes unpunished.

[Cutz]

Yeah, if he and the women had a deal, it's BS that the state wants to nullify the deal just because they're not licensed physicians.

[cannongal]

I saw an ad on FB the other day, where a woman was looking for a photographer to come to her home and take pics of the birth of her baby.

From the amount of suggestions under the original post, there are quite a few photographers around here willing to be on call and go photograph the birth of your child.

There would be no way in hell any type of camera is going into that delivery room, but I do realize other people would allow it.

On the other end of my thought was, what kind of person would be willing to go photograph a bloody twat with a head sticking out?

My oldest son and his girlfriend are in the hospital right now,  having my very first biological grandchild.    When we first found that she was pregnant,  the plan was for her mother and myself to be in the delivery room with her.    Enter covid,and now I'm telling my son to take pictures of everything.    I have become the anti-me!

[crash]

You’re only an asshole if you post them online