TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Genetic testing has shown that a Topeka man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple is the biological father of the 5-year-old child born to one of the women.
Kansas wants William Marotta declared the father so he can be forced to pay child support. Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi ordered the DNA results be entered in the official record Aug. 18, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The state started pursuing the case in 2012 after the couple split up and one of the women applied for state health insurance for the child.
Marotta contacted the women after they placed an ad seeking a sperm donor on Craigslist, but he has said he didn’t intend to be the child’s father though he agreed to donate sperm. The test results showed Marotta is the father, with 99.9 percent certainty.
In June, the judge ordered the DNA test results to remain sealed until the Kansas Supreme Court resolved a motion filed by Marotta’s attorney asking the court to take steps that included removing Mattivi from the case. The high court, however, denied those motions, which allowed the DNA results to be entered into record.
At the status hearing Aug. 18, Marotta’s attorney, Charles Baylor, objected to the results being entered into the record.
