'Australian sperm donor is child's legal father'
An Australian sperm donor is the father of an 11-year-old girl because it was understood he would be involved in her life, the nation's top court has ruled.
The man had fought to stop the girl's biological mother and her wife from moving to New Zealand with the child. It overturns a lower court's ruling that the man did not have such rights. Experts say the case has significant implications because it widens the legal scope for who can be considered a parent in Australia. The man's lawyer, Tahlia Bleier, said her client was elated after a five-year battle for recognition.
The ruling was also meaningful for "every father out there that has decided to raise a child with a friend as opposed to a romantic partner", she told the BBC.
The 49-year-old man and the child's mother, who was single at the time, had been friends when he agreed to donate his semen in 2006. They arranged to raise the child together but the pair later had a falling out, his lawyers said. The woman's lawyers argued he was not the father.
