Court Report: Sperm donors apply for contact orders

Case name Re G (A Minor); Re Z (A Minor) [2013] EWHC 134 (Fam)
Case number FD12P01675
Judge The Honourable Mr Justice Baker
Location The High Court Of Justice Family Division 

S and T both donated sperm to two separate lesbian couples. After the children were born, the donors sought leave from the court to apply for contact orders. Their right to apply for contact was resisted by the mothers.

The mothers relied on sections 42(1), 45(1), and 48(2) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, which vest legal parenthood in the mother and her civil partner to the exclusion of the biological father. In response, the donors claimed that their relationship with the children justified their application for contact under s8 of the Children Act 1989.

Baker J granted the donors leave to apply. He accepted that the effect of the 2008 act is that the donors S and T are not to be treated in law as the parents of the children in question. The act does not, however, preclude the court from granting donors leave to apply for contact under s8 and s10 of the 1989 act. The mothers had given the donors grounds to apply under the 1989 act by allowing them regular and frequent contact with the children. Denying the donors’ application would not only be at odds with the 1989 act but also with their right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Baker J stressed that permission to apply for contact did not create a presumption in favour of a substantive order.