Should Sperm Donors Have Parental Rights?
By Judy Campbell,
KQED
| 08. 19. 2013
A bill prompted by a custody dispute involving actor Jason Patric would allow certain sperm donors to seek paternity rights in court. The bill would require a donor to have lived with the child and held the child forth openly as his own. But opponents say the measure could affect the rights of same-sex couples or single mothers who use sperm donors. We discuss the bill, which is currently being revised after failing to clear a legislative panel last week.
Host: Judy Campbell
Guests:
- Deborah Wald, founder and senior partner at Wald & Thorndal, P.C.
- Jerry Hill, California state senator representing the 13th District
- Robert Walmsley, attorney with Jarrette & Walmsley, LLP
Related Articles
Media coverage of recent developments in embryo gene editing might seem to suggest that gene-edited babies are close to becoming a reality. As tech billionaires eager to profit off of techno-eugenics invest in “designer baby” technologies, attempts to normalize heritable genome editing – which remains unsafe and raises significant ethical and societal concerns – are especially dangerous. It’s worth taking a closer look at these developments and what they mean, in a way that pushes back on narratives normalizing the...
By Roxanne Khamsi, The Atlantic | 07.07.2026
When Ludivine Verboogen and Romain Alderweireldt’s third child was born in Belgium in late 2015, they marveled at his long fingers. Perhaps one day he will be a famous pianist, they thought. But soon Ludivine grew worried that her son...
By Julia Métraux, Mother Jones [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.07.2026
During his 2015 State of the Union address, then-President Barack Obama announced what he promised would be an ambitious public health project. “Tonight, I’m launching a new Precision Medicine Initiative to bring us closer to curing diseases like cancer and diabetes...
By Carl Zimmer and Marco Hernandez , The New York Times | 07.01.2026
Scientists have long dreamed of discovering the alchemy by which chemicals can be turned into life. On Wednesday, a team at the University of Minnesota announced that it had taken a major step toward that vision.
Blending together dozens of...
