WASHINGTON (Web Desk) – A Virginia man has won the right to see his son, even thought the child was conceived through the woman using a turkey baster, a court has ruled,
Robert Preston Boardwine provided his friend Joyce Rosemary Bruce with sperm and she impregnated herself using the kitchen accessory in 2010.
She had opted for the bizarre method of conception because she believed that the absence of intercourse would mean Mr Boardwine had no parental rights.
After the boy was born, the pair disagreed on the level of involvement Mr Boardwine would have in his son’s life, with Ms Bruce intent on raising him alone.
Mr Boardwine had envisioned being more involved in the child’s life, telling a lower court he had hoped to ‘attend the boy’s sporting events some day’, and have a say in major decisions such as school.
The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that as the child’s biological father, Mr Boardwine is more than a sperm donor and is entitled to be a part of his son’s life.
‘The path to fatherhood may have been unconventional,’ the court said, but it doesn’t remove Boardwine’s parental rights.
According to court filings, Ms Bruce impregnated herself with a turkey baster, believing that Mr Boardwine would not have any parental rights because they did not have intercourse.
Mr Boardwine had agreed after some trepidation to provide the sperm, and the pair underwent several tries before Ms Bruce fell pregnant.
They discussed a written contract but never signed one, a court heard.
‘Bruce used an ordinary turkey baster to inseminate herself,’ the court said. ‘No other person was involved. They did not go to a doctor’s office or to a medical facility.’
After several visits from Mr Boardwine in 2010, Ms Bruce learned that she was pregnant in July.
Their good relationship continued for the early part of the pregnancy, with Mr Boardwine visiting and bringing a stuffed bear and baby clothes.
However, Ms Bruce wanted him to be only ‘as involved as her other friends’, a lower court was told, while he sought a more active role — attendance at the boy’s sporting events someday, and a voice in major decisions.
The relationship soured when Ms Bruce rejected Mr Boardwine’s suggested name for the child. They didn’t speak for about five months, until the boy was born and Boardwine showed up at the hospital.
Later visits to her home were ‘sort of strained,’ Ms Bruice said, and she eventually told Boardwine to stay away.
Ms Bruce argued that Boardwine had no rights because, under the state’s assisted conception law, he was merely a sperm donor. But the law defines assisted conception as a pregnancy resulting from ‘medical technology,’ and that definition doomed her argument.
‘The plain meaning of the term ‘medical technology’ does not encompass a kitchen implement such as a turkey baster,’ Judge Stephen R. McCullough wrote for the appeals court.
Ms Bruce can still appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court.
