Sperm donor wins joint parental rights

A gay man who acted as a sperm donor for a lesbian friend has been given joint parental rights after a landmark High Court ruling.

The man, a 35-year-old actor from north London, agreed to help the woman make herself pregnant by artificial insemination.

But he turned to the courts after the woman refused to let him see his son, now aged two.

Now a ruling by the High Court family division has granted him a joint parental responsibility order which means he can have a say in all decisions about the child's upbringing.

The case, the first of its kind in England, involved a man and a lesbian friend who set out to have a baby by artificial insemination and had agreed to share its upbringing. At the time neither was in a relationship-But Judge Christopher Tyrer heard that the man, who cannot be identified, said the woman would not let him see the child. She was also, by then, in a lesbian relationship.

The order granted by the judge is commonly used in cases where couples are not married and gives legal rights of contact and guarantees both parents a role in key decisions such as choice of school.

The man and woman involved had known each other for about 10 years when the woman, a 35-year-old writer, conceived after using a turkey baster to impregnate herself.