Annual Child Support Training Conference & Expo
October 5-7, 2010 | Orange County, California
Child Support Directors Association of California in partnership with California Department of Child Support Services
Parentage in 2010
PARENTAGE IN 2010
Attorney Paul Spraggins
San Francisco DCSS
Possible Methods of Becoming a Parent
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Traditional Method
Artificial Insemination
In Vitro Fertilization
Surrogacy
Adoption
Cloning (?)
Traditional Method
■ Traditional method of
parentage involves a man
and a woman conceiving
a child through sexual
intercourse. The
traditional method of
parentage includes
married and single adults.
Artificial Insemination
■ Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by
which sperm is placed into the reproductive
tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating
the female by using means other than sexual
intercourse. AI is used as assisted reproductive
technology, usually in cases where the male
partner produces no sperm or the woman has
no male partner.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
■ In Vitro fertilization is a
process by which egg cells
are fertilized by sperm
outside of the womb, in
vitro. Process involves
hormonally controlling the
ovulation process, removing
ova (eggs) from the woman,
letting sperm fertilize them
in a fluid medium, then
transferring the fertilized
egg into the patient’s uterus
with the intent to
impregnate.
Surrogacy
■ Surrogacy-An
arrangement whereby a
woman agrees to
become pregnant and
deliver a child for a
contracted party.
Surrogacy
■ There are two types of surrogacy:
✷ Traditional Surrogacy-In traditional surrogacy the
surrogate is pregnant with her own biological child,
but the child was conceived with the intention of
relinquishing the child to be raised by others.
✷ Gestational Surrogacy-In gestational surrogacy the
surrogate becomes pregnant via embryo transfer with
a child of which she is not the biological mother (child
was conceived using egg donation, sperm donation,
or is the result of a donated embryo).
Adoption
■ Adoption is a process
whereby a person
assumes the parenting
for another who is not kin
and, in so doing,
permanently transfers all
rights and responsibilities
from the original parent or
parents.
Cloning
■ Human cloning is the
creation of a genetically
identical copy of an
existing or previously
existing human. The term
is generally used to refer
to artificial human
cloning; human clones in
the form of identical twins
are commonplace, with
their cloning occurring
during the natural
process of reproduction.
Possible Parties to a Parentage Action
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Birth Mother
Gestational Surrogate Mother
Traditional Surrogate Mother
Egg Donor
Girlfriend
Domestic Partner
Husband
Sperm Donor
Boyfriend
Birth Mother
■ The birth mother is treated as the legal mother.
[FC 7610-Natural birth mother presumed to be
legal mother]
Surrogate Mothers
■ Traditional Surrogacy-In a traditional surrogacy, the
surrogate mother is a birth parent, and her consent is
required under FC 8814 before the child may be adopted
by another. [In re Marriage of Moschetta (1994) 25
Cal.Appl4th 1218, 39 Cal.Rptr.2d 893; FC 7610-Natural
birth mother presumed to be legal mother]
■ Gestational Surrogacy-In gestational surrogacy, the birth
mother does not necessarily equate to legal mother.
When birth mother is not the biological mother the intent
expressed in a surrogacy agreement is key. [In re
Marriage of Buzzanca (1998) 61 Cal.App.th 1410]
Husband
■ Marital Presumption- There is a rebuttable presumption
that a man is the natural father of a child if he and the
child's natural mother are or have been married to each
other. [FC 7611(a)]
■ Presumption created by AI and In Vitro-Husband is
treated in law as if he were the natural father of a child
conceived by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization.
[FC 7613(a)-Note: Husband consent and licensed
physician required.]
■ POP Declaration-A completed voluntary declaration of
paternity has the same force and effect as a judgment for
paternity issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. [FC
7573]
Boyfriend
■ Adoption-Parent and child relationship may be
established between a child and an adoptive parent by
proof of adoption. [FC 7610]
■ Presumed Parent-A (wom)man is a presumed parent if
(s)he receives the child into his home and openly holds
the child out as her/his natural child. [FC 7611(d); Applies
to both men and women. Elisa B. v. Superior Court
(2005) 33 Cal.3d. 46, 37 Cal.Rptr.4th 108]
■ POP Declaration-A completed voluntary declaration of
paternity has the same force and effect as a judgment for
paternity issued by a court of competent jurisdiction. [FC
7573]
Girlfriend
■ Presumed Parent-A (wom)man
is a presumed parent if (s)he
receives the child into his home
and openly holds the child out
as her/his natural child. [FC
7611(d); Applies to both men
and women. Elisa B. v.
Superior Court (2005) 33
Cal.3d. 46, 37 Cal.Rptr.4th 108]
■ Adoption-Parent and child
relationship may be established
between a child and an
adoptive parent by proof of
adoption. [FC 7610; Note-A
birth mother does not need to
terminate her parental rights to
have her partner adopt her
child. Sharon S. v. Superior
Court (2003) 31 Cal.4th 417, 2
Cal.Rptr.3d 699.]
Domestic Partner
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Registered Domestic PartnershipChildren born in the domestic partnership
are legal children of both same-sex
partners. [Family Code 297, 297.5; Noterequires the filing of a Declaration of
Domestic Partnership with the Secretary
of State]
Presumed Parent-A (wom)man is a
presumed parent if (s)he receives the
child into his home and openly holds the
child out as her/his natural child. [FC
7611(d); Applies to both men and women.
Elisa B. v. Superior Court (2005) 33
Cal.3d. 46, 37 Cal.Rptr.4th 108]
POP Declaration-A completed voluntary
declaration of paternity has the same
force and effect as a judgment for
paternity issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction. [FC 7573]
Adoption-Parent and child relationship
may be established between a child and
an adoptive parent by proof of adoption.
[FC 7610]
Sperm Donor
■ The donor of semen provided to a licensed
physician and surgeon or to a licensed sperm
bank for use in artificial insemination or in vitro
fertilization of a woman other than the donor's
wife is treated in law as if he were not the
natural father of a child thereby conceived. [FC
7613(b); In Steven S. Deborah D. (2005) 127
Cal.App.4th 319]
Egg Donor
■ A woman’s whose ovum that is fertilized and
implanted in a surrogate mother is deemed the
natural/legal mother of the child thus produced.
When partners in a lesbian relationship decide
to produce children in this manner, both the
woman who provides her ova and her partner
who bears the child(ren) are deemed the
child(ren)’s parents. FC 7613 does not always
apply to bar claim of parentage. [K.M. v. E.G.
(2005) 37 Cal.4th 130, 33 Cal.Rptr.3d 61]