With the advent of science and at-home DNA testing kits, understanding your ancestry is becoming increasingly easier. Sometimes, you find out more about your ancestry than you anticipated. Sometimes, you find out that the dad who raised you isn’t your biological dad. Sometimes, you find out that your dad was your mom’s fertility doctor. Your dad was supposed to be an anonymous sperm donor or specifically picked sperm donor.
Two states, Indiana and Texas, have now enacted laws regarding fertility fraud. Indiana was the first state to pass laws about fertility fraud because it was fueled by an Indiana fertility doctor is believed to have fathered over 50 children, all without the consent of the children’s mothers. In Indiana, not only is fertility fraud now criminalized, but there is a civil cause of action for those who have been wronged by the doctor who donated his sperm without the patient’s express consent or knowledge. In Texas, fertility fraud is a felony criminal charge if a doctor donates his sperm that the recipient has not expressly contested to using.
In Minnesota, we have laws regarding paternity and child custody, but none concerning fertility fraud—yet. Minnesota offers guidance how parents should legally handle child custody, parenting time, child support, and paternity, but the prerequisite is knowing who the dad is. Given the newness of the laws, it is unclear how Minnesota would address fertility fraud with its laws.
