LOS ANGELES — A ruling in actor Jason Patric’s custody battle could have repercussions for an unexpected population — women who use fertility treatments.
Legal experts say an appellate court ruling issued Wednesday in favor of Patric’s fight to regain visitation with his son could lead to changes in cases like his, in which a man donates sperm to a woman he knows and then maintains a relationship with the child.
Patric’s legal victory doesn’t just impact heterosexual couples. Experts say it could also affect same-sex couples who have friends or acquaintances serve as sperm donors.
The ruling doesn’t resolve Patric’s fight to reunite with Gus, the 4-year-old boy he fathered through in vitro fertilization with Danielle Schreiber, an ex-girlfriend who no longer wants the actor in their lives. Patric must still prove to a Los Angeles judge that he qualifies as a father through his actions.
“I don’t think the (Patric) case was groundbreaking,” said Melissa Murray, a professor who specializes in family law. “I do think it will be an important decision for filling in a vacuum in the law. It will be important for those individuals who are in families but they are not families who have been joined in marriage.”
Murray, who is affiliated with Berkeley Law’s Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, said she expects the Patric ruling will prompt an appeal to the California Supreme Court, and will probably lead to legislative changes.
