| | | If a married woman bears a child of assisted reproduction | | using a donor's sperm, the donor will not be the father in any | | event. Her husband will be the father unless and until the | | husband's lack of consent to the assisted reproduction is proven | | within two years of his learning of the birth, see § 705, infra. | | This provides certainty of nonparentage for prospective donors. |
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| | | The comment to now-withdrawn USCACA § 4(a) states that | | "nonparenthood is also provided for those donors who provide | | sperm for assisted reproduction by unmarried women." Under those | | circumstances--called a "relatively rare situation" in the 1988 | | comment--"the child would have no legally recognized father." | | This result is retained in the new UPA, although the frequency of | | unmarried women using assisted reproduction appears to have grown | | significantly since 1988. |
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| | | This section shields all donors, whether of sperm or eggs, | | from parenthood in all situations in which either a married woman | | or a single woman conceives a child through ART with the intent | | to be the child's parent, either by herself or with another | | person, as provided in sections 1983 and 1984. |
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| | | Maine has no statutes and only one appellate case regarding | | donors, whether of sperm or eggs; yet, cases are being litigated | | in Maine's trial courts with little or no guidance. In | | Guardianship of I.H., 2003 ME 130, the court held that the | | probate court may waive notice to an anonymous sperm donor. In | | so ruling, the court cited Section 702 of the UPA 2000 in its | | analysis of the issue. |
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| | | §1963.__Parentage of child of assisted reproduction |
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| | | A person who provides an egg or sperm for, or consents to, | | assisted reproduction by a woman as provided in section 1964 with | | the intent to be the parent of her child is a parent of the | | resulting child. |
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| | | (This is section 703 of the UPA.) |
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| | | Source: UPA (1973) § 5; USCACA (1988) §§ 1, 3. |
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| | | The father-child relationship is created between a man and the | | resulting child if the man provides sperm for, or consents to, | | assisted reproduction by a woman with the intent to be the parent | | of her child, see § 704, infra. This provision reflects the | | concern for the best interests of nonmarital as well as |
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