If a married woman has a baby, her husband is automatically named father, even if she uses a sperm donor or her spouse has been in jail or Afghanistan for a year and she’s been fooling around with every guy in town. A suspicious husband can demand blood or DNA tests to disprove paternity, but if he doesn’t challenge, he is deemed the father, no matter what.
Disputed motherhood was never an issue. Until recently. It used to be simple: the woman who delivered a baby was its mother. Pretty obvious, right?
Then along came surrogacy contracts, when some women agreed to bear children for other women.
Now stick with me here. This can get complicated. A surrogate may agree to become pregnant with her own egg and sperm from the intended father. Or she may use an egg from the intended mother who can ovulate but not carry a child to term. Or she can accept an egg from a third party. Sperm can be from either the intended father or a donor. Read full article.
