Topeka mothers support sperm donor in child support battle with Kansas DCF

Former partners say state forced name disclosure with threat of withholding health benefits

Posted: December 29, 2012 

 

By Aly Van Dyke

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

 

A lesbian couple who found a sperm donor on Craigslist three years ago never meant the man to be any more than just that, and they are supporting his fight against the state’s request he pay child support.

 

“We’re kind of at a loss,” Topekan Angela Bauer, 40, said Saturday, speaking on behalf of her and her former partner, Jennifer Schreiner. “We are going to support him in whatever action he wants to go forward with.”

 

The Kansas Department for Children and Families has filed a child support claim against Topekan William Marotta, who provided sperm used to artificially inseminate Schreiner.

 

Bauer and Schreiner, 34, placed an ad for a sperm donor on Craigslist in March 2009. Marotta responded, agreeing to relinquish all parental rights, including financial responsibility to the child.