Former partners 'forever grateful' to Topeka sperm donor

Topeka couple wanted home insemination to be 'personal'

Posted: December 30, 2012 

 

By Aly Van Dyke

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

 

By 2009, when lesbian couple Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner decided they wanted to give birth to a child, the two had been together eight years and already had fostered and adopted several children together.

“We were at a place in our relationship that we thought it would be really neat to experience a pregnancy together,” said Bauer, now 40. “To me, that’s probably one of the most intimate things a couple can have together, a child.”

 

Today, that child is in the middle of a state lawsuit. The Kansas Department of Children and Families has filed a child support claim against the sperm donor for the couple’s now 3-year-old girl, despite a signed contract waiving his parenting responsibilities. A hearing in the case has been set for Jan. 8 in Shawnee County District Court.

 

The Topeka couple initially tried to obtain a specimen from a cryobank in Chicago, Bauer said, but ran into trouble with their family practitioner. The doctor refused to sign a release stating the couple capable of raising a child, she said.

 

“I think she was uncomfortable with the whole insemination,” Bauer said. “It was the weirdest interaction I’ve ever had with a health care professional.”

 

So the couple tried its luck at Craigslist, posting a $50 ad for a sperm donor to help them conceive a child.

“We got numerous responses, but most were for threesomes,” Bauer said.

 

Finally, they received a response from Topekan William Marotta. He described himself as a 43-year-old man standing 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighing 205 pounds. The email stated he was reasonably fit and in good health, with blond hair and blue eyes.

 

After exchanging emails with Bauer, Marotta and his wife, Kimberly, visited the women’s house.

“When we met William (Marotta), it seemed to be a perfect fit,” Bauer said. “He was smart, he was attractive and he asked really good questions.”

 

Marotta wanted to make sure the child he was helping bring into the world would be taken care of, Bauer said. He didn’t want to be involved in the parenting, she said, but was open to meeting the child later, if he or she had questions.

 

The women decided to inseminate Schreiner at their home, Bauer said, partly because of their previous awkward encounter with the doctor, but primarily because they wanted the act to be more personal.

 

The couple had no idea home insemination would have any bearings on parenting rights of the child, Bauer said.

“We just really wanted it to be personal and about the two of us,” she said.

 

The couple was successful the first try, and a baby girl was born to them on Dec. 7, 2009, though only Schreiner’s name appears on the birth certificate. Kansas law doesn’t recognize same-sex unions.

 

The Kansas Department of Children and Families became aware of the situation because Schreiner had to file for Medicaid to secure health insurance for the girl. Bauer, who formerly was the breadwinner of the family, was diagnosed in March with a serious illness, rendering her incapable of working.

 

The women are throwing their support in Marotta’s corner, but Bauer worries how all this will affect her daughter, whom she described as “a well-adjusted beautiful girl” who is “loved immensely.”

 

“William (Marotta) would only add good things to her life,” Bauer said. “I don’t feel like it would in any way damage her. But it kind of puts the parenting in an awkward situation.”

 

Regardless, Bauer said, she would be “forever grateful” to Marotta and his wife.

 

Bauer and Schreiner split up in December 2010 but continue to co-parent their eight children, who range in age from 1 month to 25 years.

 

Marotta couldn’t be reached for comment.