Lesbians suing sperm bank after discovering baby’s father is a schizophrenic burglar
Two lesbian parents have filed a lawsuit against a sperm bank in Canada – after finding out their child’s biological father was a schizophrenic ex-criminal.
Angela Collins and Elizabeth Hanson, of Port Hope, Ontario, had conceived a child eight years ago with the help of sperm bank Xytex Corp.
The pair had leafed through a number of sperm donor profiles, and settled for Donor #9623 – who was listed as having an IQ of 160 and a master’s degrees in neuroscience.
However, only in 2014, years after the birth of their son, did the pair find out the truth about the sperm donor.
Ms Collins said that when a Xytex mix-up accidentally sent her the anonymous donor’s name, it took just minutes searching online to find out the man had been to prison on burglary charges, suffered from schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder, and did not have any university degrees.
The pair filed a lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court this month accusing Xytex of “misleading” them about the donor – failing to spot the false claims on his donor profile, nor flag his mental illness and criminal record.
Speaking to Canada’s CBC radio network, she said: “It was like a lead ball went to the bottom of our stomach for both my partner and I.
“We know nobody is perfect, but we didn’t sign up to choose knowingly that our donor had schizophrenia.”
While she is suing the company, Ms Collins said that she doesn’t hold a grudge against the donor.
She said: “He wasn’t healthy at the time. He’s not a bad man.
“He’s a person who has an illness – and he helped to create the love of my life.”
Xytex President Kevin M O’Brien said “the claims by the couple in question do not reflect the representations provided to Xytex”.
