Dublin, Ireland – A man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple won a legal fight Thursday to keep his biological son in Ireland.
The Supreme Court judgment was a first in Ireland, a predominantly Roman Catholic country where the rights of same-sex couples and sperm donors have not been spelled out. Now the couple, wed in a civil union ceremony in England, cannot spend long periods in Australia with their 14-month-old boy as planned, but can only vacation there for up to six weeks.
Two judges ruled that the toddler’s best interests required him to stay in Ireland near his biological father. The third judge disagreed.
“The case is utterly unique and unprecedented,” Justice Nial Fennelly wrote in his dissent, noting that neither the parental rights of sperm donors nor lesbian couples are defined in Irish law.
Neither side has been publicly identified, following Ireland’s policy of granting anonymity to family law litigants.
The lesbian couple – an Irish woman and an Australian woman – exchanged vows in January 2006. The Irish woman was pregnant by the Irish sperm donor, who signed a contract giving him visitation rights.
The lesbian couple initially granted the man regular visits, but tensions quickly grew, both sides’ lawyers agreed.
The man filed another lawsuit seeking joint custody of the boy. That case will be heard this fall.
