Whole new meaning to the word "gift"

[MYSONSDAD]

From CBS 2 Chicago WBBM-TV

Man Can Sue Woman For Sperm Theft Distress
Feb 24, 2005

A woman accused of using her lover's sperm to impregnate
herself without his knowledge can be held liable for the
unwitting father's emotional pain, the Illinois Appellate
Court has ruled.

In the ruling released Wednesday, a three-judge panel
reinstated part of a lawsuit against Sharon Irons, a doctor
from Olympia Fields. The ruling sends the case back to Cook
County Circuit Court.

Irons was sued by her former lover, Chicago family physician
Richard O. Phillips, who accused her of a "calculated,
profound personal betrayal" of him after a brief affair they
had six years ago.

Phillips alleges that he and Irons, who practices internal
medicine, never had intercourse during their four-month
affair, although they did have oral sex three times.

His suit contends that Irons, without his knowledge, kept
some of his semen and used it to impregnate herself.

The relationship ended when Phillips learned Irons had lied
to him about being recently divorced and was, in fact, still
married to another doctor, according to court documents.

Nearly two years later, Irons slapped Phillips with a
paternity suit. DNA tests showed Phillips was indeed the
father, court papers state.

Phillips was ordered to pay about $800 a month in child
support, said Irons' attorney, Enrico Mirabelli.

Phillips then sued Irons, claiming her actions robbed him of
sleep and caused him to have trouble eating. He is haunted
by "feelings of being trapped in a nightmare," court papers
state.

Irons responded that her alleged actions weren't "truly
extreme and outrageous" and that Phillips' pain wasn't bad
enough to merit a lawsuit. The circuit court agreed and
dismissed Phillips' suit in 2003.

But the higher court ruled that, if Phillips' story is true,
Irons "deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no
reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to
use plaintiff's sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner
yielding extreme consequences."

But the judges agreed with the lower court's decision to
dismiss fraud and theft claims against Irons.

They agreed with Irons' lawyers that she didn't steal the sperm.

"She asserts that when plaintiff 'delivered' his sperm, it
was a gift -- an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title
to property from a donor to a donee," the decision said.
"There was no agreement that the original deposit would be
returned upon request."

Irons has since divorced, Mirabelli said.

"There's a 5-year-old child here," Mirabelli said Thursday.
"Imagine how a child feels when your father says he feels
emotionally damaged by your birth."

Phillips is representing himself in the case. He could not
be reached for comment Thursday.


"Children learn what they live"