Large numbers of official-looking forms and generic contracts are available on the Internet and they often mislead people into thinking that they can safely dispense with legal advice. One striking case in which civil partners ended up battling the sperm donor father of their child over contact rights proved how very dangerous this can be.
The mother and her partner made contact with the father online and he agreed to donate sperm so that the couple could have the child they longed for. Without taking legal advice, they downloaded a ‘sperm donation agreement deed’ by which they sought to agree their future roles in the child’s life and contact arrangements.
However, their attempt at achieving an accord proved in vain and, following the birth of a baby girl, a dispute broke out in respect of the father’s contact with the child. He claimed that it had been agreed that he would be a ‘co-parent’, whereas the mother and her partner – who were the child’s legal parents – said that he had only been intent on ensuring that he would have no financial responsibility for the child.
In ruling on the matter, the High Court noted that, whatever had been agreed before the child’s birth, her future welfare was the paramount factor. The mother and her partner had been greatly concerned by the father’s attitude to contact and feared that he was intent on undermining the security of their family life. They had been particularly distressed when he posted pictures of the child on the Internet.
The Court did not doubt the father's sincerity and determination to play the part of a male role model in his daughter’s life. However, in standing on his alleged rights under the agreement, he had wholly underestimated the impact that his stance would have on the mother and her partner. In those circumstances, it was in the girl’s best interests that she should have no direct contact with her father, who had not seen her for over a year.