In the ultimate case of relationship treachery, a woman collected the sperm she gathered from oral sex on her lover and used it to impregnate herself, then had the courts force the man to pay child support.
Now an appeals court has ruled that the man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm she collected from her mouth, put it in a tube and impregnated herself without his knowledge, then had a baby.
There is a wicked wrinkle to the lawsuit, the court ruled, however. The man cannot claim theft, the court stated, because the man willingly gave the sperm away and it was, therefore, hers to keep.
The ruling Wednesday by the Illinois Appellate Court sends Dr. Richard O. Phillips’ distress case back to trial court.
Phillips accuses Dr. Sharon Irons of a “calculated, profound personal betrayal” after their affair six years ago, saying she secretly kept semen after they had oral sex, then used it to become pregnant.
He said he didn’t find out about the child for nearly two years, when Irons filed a paternity lawsuit. DNA tests confirmed Phillips was the father, the court papers state.
Phillips was ordered to pay about $800 a month in child support, said Irons’ attorney, Enrico Mirabelli.
‘Trapped in a nightmare’ Phillips sued Irons, claiming he has had trouble sleeping and eating and has been 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’ lawsuit 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.”
The judges in the higher courts agreed with the lower court decision, however, to dismiss the fraud and theft claims. The court, in essence, says that Dr. Irons didn’t steal the sperm from Dr. Phillips. When he climaxed, he gave the sperm away; therefore Dr. Irons 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.”
Phillips is representing himself in the case. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
“There’s a 5-year-old child here,” Mirabelli said, trying to argue on behalf of the woman. “Imagine how a child feels when your father says he feels emotionally damaged by your birth.”
