Local Law Firms Home > Child Custody & Support News > Texas Sperm Donor Wins Child Support Lawsuit An appeals court in California has ruled that Texas bodybuilding champ Ronnie Coleman does not owe any child support payments to a woman who had children from his donated sperm. Coleman met the woman (only identified as Jo.D in the lawsuit documents) in 1991 in Arlington, Texas. They had an intimate relationship, after which the woman moved to California. In 2006, Coleman gave his sperm at California Cryobank, Inc., a California Sperm Bank for an in-vitro fertilization program the woman was taking. She got pregnant and had triplets in June 2007. Coleman signed a paternity declaration and all three had his name as the father on their birth certificates. One of the infants died within the year. Coleman got married (to another woman) later that year, but ended up being sued for child support in 2008 by Jo.D. Coleman claimed he was not the natural father and that he had poor reading skills so the papers he signed were under the assumption that it was part of the sperm donation procedure. He asked the courts to set aside the paternity declaration and relieve him of child support payments under the California's Uniform Parentage Act, which states that semen donated to a sperm bank does not make the donor a natural father, unless it is donated to the donor's wife. But in Oct 2010, Jo.D. won the child support case and Coleman was ordered to start making payments. He filed an appeal, but had to make the payments while the appeal was in progress. Coleman has already paid thousands of dollars in child support at about $4,000 per month. Last month, the Second District Appeals Court in Los Angeles overturned the lower court's decision and freed the 47-year old bodybuilder from having to make any more child support payments. Did you know? |