The biological father of twins conceived by artificial fertilisation and who are now nearly four years old, said he simply donated his gametes to the mother and should thus not be regarded as their father, nor should he be held responsible for their upbringing.

The father turned to the Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, for an order absolving him of any parental responsibilities. This is after the mother of the twins, his former girlfriend, turned to the maintenance court to hold him financially responsible for their upbringing.

The applicant told the court that he and the mother of the twins, who had no children before he donated his gametes, were involved in a relationship for about three years.

After they broke up, they resumed seeing each other, communicated via WhatsApp, and engaged in intimate relations from time to time.

He said that around 2020, the respondent requested him to be a gamete donor for her to have a child. When he agreed to do so, it was because of his care and affection for her, to allow her to fulfil her dear wish.

He did not want and could not afford another child, and his condition was clearly expressed in messages to her, which he said she accepted.

He explained that at the clinic, using an alias, he signed a standard “Sperm Donor Consent” form. The document contemplated donation to an anonymous recipient and no contact by the donor or any of his family with any child that might be conceived.

After the fertilisation process, they kept in touch, but he said that after the birth of the twins, he had not exercised any parental responsibilities and rights nor engaged with the children.

According to the applicant, the twins’ mother went on to make financial demands from him and said that he “assisted her” because he “cared for her”, not “imposing on himself” any financial obligation.

She then approached the maintenance court for a formal maintenance order, which prompted the man to launch these high court proceedings.

The mother had a different version from the applicant and said that although they had broken up, they rekindled their relationship from time to time, and they tried in vain to have a child together. They eventually decided on the process of using his gametes.

According to her, he was delighted and very involved in her pregnancy. She further contended that he visited, supported, and “built a relationship with the children to the extent that their children know him as their father”.

The mother said that when her work contract was not renewed and she asked for an increase in the “stipend” he paid for the children, he “played the sperm donor card”.

The man, meanwhile, explained that his “willingness to assist her in conceiving was conditional and aimed at fulfilling her desire while maintaining his boundaries”.

He said that in all the conversations, he intended to donate his sperm but not take on any financial responsibility.

The court said the applicant failed to prove the existence of a valid gamete donor agreement. It said the relief that the applicant seeks will have the effect of declaring that the twins do not have a father and depriving them of all the benefits of such a relationship.

It was highlighted that the Children’s Act states that the interests of a child are of paramount importance. It would be unjust to deprive the twins of parental support, the court concluded in turning down the application.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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