Academic

Live Sperm, Dead Donor . . . No Case

By Kim Krawiec

From the L.A. Times (June 18, 2009):

Court denies benefits for girl conceived from dead father's sperm

?A 10-year-old Los Angeles girl conceived from the frozen sperm of a dead man will not receive his Social Security benefits, a U.S. appeals court has ruled.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday the child, Brandalynn Vernoff, was not dependent on her father at the time of his death. In California, dependency is determined by the parent-child relationship rather than the marital status of the parents, according to the decision.?

The court distinguished prior cases in which the decedent had consented to posthumous conception.  So, technically, my headline should read, ?Dead Donor, No Consent . . . No Case.?  But where?s the fun in that?

Here?s the Ninth Circuit Opinion, and a nice synopsis from Shaun Martin, of the California Appellate Report.

(HT: Egg Donation and Surrogacy Law Blog)

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on June 21, 2009 (boomark / email).