Forced fatherhood

Sperm theft, also known as unauthorized use of sperm, spermjacking or spurgling, occurs when a man's semen is used, against his will or without his knowledge or consent, to inseminate a woman. It can also include deception regarding a partner's ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy. Although the term uses the word "theft", it more closely falls under a state of fraud or breach of contract. In most jurisdictions, sperm theft is not illegal and usually has little bearing on issues like child support. It is considered an issue in the men's rights movement.

Definition

Sperm theft falls into three main categories:

• Sperm stashing — Occurs when a woman surreptitiously obtains a man's sperm, such as retaining a used condom after a sexual encounter, and uses it to inseminate herself.
• Non-consenusal sexual intercourse — Including Rape or statutory rape of a man or boy that results in pregnancy.
• Improper use of Assisted reproductive technology — When a man's frozen sperm sample is used, without his permission, to fertilize an egg in IVF and other artificial insemination procedures.

Legal Status

In most jurisdictions, sperm theft is not illegal. It is often associated with the issue of child support. When the obligation to provide child support is challenged by men who allege that their sperm had been stolen or otherwise used to inseminate a woman without their consent, courts will typically enforce the doctrine of strict liability: a man is liable to support a child conceived with his sperm, irrespective of the circumstances of conception or any criminal conduct on the part of the mother. Plaintiff arguments of tort liability for fraud or misrepresentation typically do not hold up. Courts are also thought to be reluctant to remedy such grievances as it would mean ruling that a child was born as a result of deception. In some cases, a victim of sperm theft can sue the perpetrator for emotional trauma inflicted.

There have been calls to ensure that male victims of contraceptive fraud, sexual assault, and statutory rape (sperm theft) should not be "punished with child support liability, but instead receive compensation for the unauthorized use of their biological products."

In a "landmark ruling" establishing the legal principle that a man's semen is his own property, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, the most senior judge in England and Wales, ruled in favor of six unnamed men who sued the NHS for damages after their sperm samples were lost. The men were all cancer patients who had been advised to freeze their sperm due to the risk of chemotherapy damaging their fertility. Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Sir Anthony Clarke, and Lord Justice Wilson ruled that the sperm samples were legally the property of the men, and dismissed the argument made by the NHS that the samples should be given the same status as discarded toenails or hair.

Cases

Australia

A Melbourne man disputed his obligation to pay child support, claiming the mother had lied about using contraception and then disappeared soon after becoming pregnant, refusing him access to the child. He said: "I dispute the right of this woman to surrogate me to get a sole parent's benefit." The presiding magistrate told him, "I can't let you win in this case because it would set a precedent that would change Federal law" and that fraud was not grounds for annulling his child support payments. Nevertheless, his child support arrears were reduced to $15 per month.

Germany

In Germany, sperm theft is known as samenraub ("robbery of sperm"). The phrase increased in popularity after a 2001 tabloid scandal involving Boris Becker. In 2013 it was included in Duden.

A Munich man was ordered to pay child support for a child conceived from an egg fertilized with his sperm after his ex-wife forged his signature at an IVF clinic.

In 2012, two gynaecologists were ordered by a Dortmund court to pay child support in place of the biological father. They had helped a mother conceive twins via artificial insemination using the father's sperm, but did so without the father's consent. A contract had stipulated that his sperm was to be destroyed after a year.

Israel

In 2012, the Tiberias Family Court ruled against a man (A) who asked to be excused child support, claiming the mother of his child (B) had "stolen his sperm" in order to get pregnant. In dismissing the suit, the judge ruled that "even if her biological father’s claims are true, they are not sufficient to prevent the minor from succeeding in her current suit." The judge also cited other cases in which men had been ordered to pay child support, even though they had argued they were "fathers against their will." [1]

In 2013, in a "milestone verdict", a Tel Aviv court ordered a woman to pay her former partner NIS110,000 ($31,000) in damages. She had informed him that she was infertile and persuaded him to not to use contraception. Subsequently, she became pregnant and sued him for child support after he refused to acknowledge paternity of the child. Previous rulings had ruled against him. In January 2017, the compensation imposed on the woman was revoked after the district court hearing the appeal ruled that the sex did not result from misrepresentation, and it was not proven that the plaintiff was interested at the time in the defendant's medical condition or the need to use contraception.

On Septmber 4, 2018, a Tel Aviv court partially accepted the suit of a man claiming "forced fatherhood." Judge Shifra Glick determined that the defendant had been dishonest with the plaintiff, had asked him not to use contraceptives, and had told him that she was using an IUD, thereby "making the plaintiff a parent against his will." The plaintiff's claims of robbery, negligence and fraud were rejected. The plaintiff was awarded limited compensation of NSI 40,000 ($11,160).

United Kingdom

In June 2000, the Birmingham High Court rejected Jonathan Evans' challenege to a child support order. Evans cited a letter the child's mother had written him in which she admitted to inseminating herself with his sperm after retrieving it from a used condom whilst he was in the shower. The judge ruled that, irrespective of how the baby was conceived, Evans was the legal father and was required to pay maintenance.

Boris Becker claimed that a child he fathered with Angela Ermakova was conceived when she stole his sperm after oral sex and inseminated herself. Becker subsequently agreed to take responsibility for the child.

Daily Mail columnist Liz Jones admitted to stealing the sperm of her ex-husband (Nirpal Dhaliwal) in an attempt to get pregnant. Dhaliwal himself later wrote: "Luckily for me, my little troopers stayed loyal and didn't go to work for her, otherwise I could've found myself a father, emotionally and financially trapped by her for the rest of my life." He cited his example as part of a wider plea for child support reform.

United States

SF vs. TM (1996). S.F. appealed an order to pay child support, citing that he "did not knowingly and willfully participate in any sexual activity with the mother of the minor child." He had passed out intoxicated at a party in the home of a woman (T.M.) and was raped by her while he was unconscious. S.F. argued that being compelled to pay child support for a child conceived as a result of non-consensual intercourse deprived him of property rights and equal protection under the law. He produced expert testimony that it was possible for a male to get an erection and ejaculate while unconscious. While the court acknowledged that the mother's misconduct was "reprehensible" and a "misdemeanor", it nevertheless rejected his argument, stating that "the child is an innocent party... any wrongful conduct on the part of the mother should not alter the father's duty to provide support for the child." S.F. was ordered to pay $106.04 per month in child support, plus $8,960.64 in arrears.

In 1997 the Louisiana Court of Appeal ruled against Emile Frisard in his suit against Debra Rojas. Frisard was visiting his sick parents in hospital when Rojas, a nurse at the hospital, offered to perform oral sex on him, provided he wore a condom. Frisard accepted and after the act was complete, Rojas kept the condom and used Frisard's semen to impregnate herself. She subsequently sued him for child support. Frisard argued that he only consented to oral sex and never consented to the use of his sperm for insemination purposes. Frisard was ordered to pay $436.81 per month in child support, $17,901.21 in arrears and 5% in court costs. Addressing the issue of Rojas' self-insemination without Frisard's consent, the court dismissed the point: "[Frisard's] own testimony showed that he had some sort of sexual contact with the plaintiff around the time frame of alleged conception." The fact of any sexual contact between them was sufficient to hold Frisard liable for child support.

A Massachusetts court awarded Richard Gladu $108,000 in compensation from Boston IVF after the fertility clinic impregnated his ex-wife with their frozen embryos without his consent, resulting in the birth of a daughter. Gladu was awarded $98,000 for the cost of raising his then seven-year-old daughter, and $10,000 for emotional distress.

The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that Richard O. Phillips could press a claim for emotional distress against his former partner Sharon Irons, overruling the circuit court which had dismissed Phillips' suit in 2003. Phillips claimed that Irons surreptiously kept condoms containing his semen after oral sex and used it to self-inseminate, later giving birth to a daughter. The court ruled that Phillips' claims, if true, meant that Irons "deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to use plaintiff’s sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner yielding extreme consequences." The appellate court dismissed Phillips' claims of fraud and theft: "when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it was a gift — an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee. There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request."

In 2015, Layne Hardin and his former partner Katherine LeBlanc (of Houston, Texas) sued Texas Andrology Services and Hardin's former girlfriend, Tobie Devall, charging that Devall had illegally acquired Hardin's frozen sperm from the facility and used it to get pregnant. Devall claimed that she did so with Hardin's agreement. While still in a relationship with LeBlanc, Hardin had a vasectomy and had eight vials of sperm frozen. An agreement between Hardin, LeBlanc and the facility stated that only LeBlanc would have access to the sperm. A jury found in favor of Hardin and LeBlanc. Texas Andrology Services was ordered to pay $250,000 apiece to Hardin and LeBlanc. Devall was ordered to pay $125,000 to Hardin and $250,000 to LeBlanc. On appeal, the compensation was reduced to $19,500.

Zimbabwe

In 2011, Zimbabwean police broke up a gang of female rapists accused of "semen harvesting". Male targets were threatened or drugged and made to have sexual intercourse using condoms, after which the semen was retained, possibly for ritualistic purposes.

Media

Tom Leykis urged his male listeners to flush their used condoms down the toilet in order to protect themselves against sperm theft. Where this is not possible, he suggested they pour tabasco sauce or habanero sauce into their used condoms to ensure spermicide.

In 2019 a story circulated on the internet that a Las Vegas hotel cleaner had gotten pregnant after stealing sperm from a millionaire's used condom and successfully sued him for child support. The story was later revealed to be a satire.

Fear of baby-trapping and the resulting child support has reportedly led to an increase in wealthy Hamptons men undergoing vasectomies.

Derrick Rose claimed that NBA players are trained to flush their condoms down the toilet or take them away so that women cannot use the sperm to impregnate themselves.

Sperm theft in The Bible

The Bible describes two cases of sperm stealing, in which a man is seduced by a woman under false pretences and becomes an unwitting sperm donor.

Lot and his daughters

The account of Lot and his daughters is in Genesis 19:30–38

Genesis 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.
³¹ And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:
³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
³³ And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
³⁴ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
³⁵ And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
³⁶ Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Judah and Tamar

In the Book of Genesis, Tamar deceives her father-in-law Judah into having sexual intercourse with her by pretending to be a prostitute. When Judah discovers that Tamar is pregnant he prepares to have her killed, but recants and confesses when he finds out that he is the father (Genesis 38:11–26). The twins Perez (Peretz) and Zerah were conceived as result (Gen. 38:27-30). The former is the patrilinear ancestor of the messiah, according to the Book of Ruth (4:18-22).

In Ancient Mythology

In Ancient Greek Mythology, Myrrha fell in love with her father Cinyras and tricked him into having sexual intercouse with her (“climb[ed] into his bed one dark night, when her nurse had made him too drunk to realize what he was doing”). She was transformed into a myrrh tree and gave birth to their son Adonis.