Sperm donors who know parents can apply to see children, court rules (UK)
Sperm donors who know the parents to whom they have donated can apply for contact with their biological children, a court has ruled. Previously this was not allowed. The ruling has major implications for anyone who has a child conceived using the sperm of someone they know and for those considering starting a family this way.
Following Thursday's ruling gay and straight couples who are considering conceiving using a sperm donor they know are being urged to establish the child rearing equivalent of a pre-nuptial agreement – a co-parenting deal.
The case, the first of its kind, involves two lesbian couples who were friends with a gay male couple. All three couples had a civil partnership. One half of the gay couple is the biological father of both the children of one of the lesbian couples, the other half of the male couple is biological father of one child who is being brought up by the other lesbian couple. The male couple applied to the family court for contact and residency of their biological children. The women who are bringing up the children, contested the application, saying that this would infringe on their family life, but lost. Under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act same-sex couples are legal parents of children conceived through donated sperm, eggs or embryos in the same way that heterosexual couples are.
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/31/sperm-donors-parents-apply-contact-children