Tiberias Family Court rules that minors “cannot be restricted by the behavior or understanding of their parents.”
By JOANNA PARASZCZUKCourt gavel justice judge legal law 311(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
The Tiberias Family Court ruled on Sunday that a man who claims the mother of his five-year-old child “stole his sperm” to become pregnant must pay child support.The child was conceived when her father, “A.” and her mother, “R.” had a onenight stand while living in a shared apartment, but the parents gave conflicting versions about the circumstances.A. claimed the child was conceived as a result of “sperm theft,” that R. had no intention of maintaining contact with him and that she had informed him she would bring up the child independently and not sue him for child support.R. denies these claims.In dismissing A.’s arguments, Judge Assaf Zagury said that minors “cannot be restricted by the behavior or understanding of their parents,” and therefore A. must pay child support.Both the mother and the child are named on the family court suit against A., but the judge noted that the child is entitled to file a suit independently of R.“Therefore, even if her biological father’s claims are true, they are not sufficient to prevent the minor from succeeding in her current suit,” Zagury said.The judge added that there have been cases where fathers have been ordered to pay child support even though they argued that they were “fathers against their will” because of sperm theft, or that the mother had refused to terminate a pregnancy, despite previous agreements to do so.Zagury also noted that A. had maintained contact with his daughter after her birth.
