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Hi, I am a newbie on here. When married in 2005, I was conned by my ex wife to have a child by donor insermination she then divorced me when she got what she wanted. I have no contact with the child and are being made to pay child support payments for a child that is biologically not mine. Is anyone else in a similar position? or know how to get out of this loop hole.
Hi did the artificial insemination take place in a licensed clinic in the UK ?
as far as I know, the fact that it was a licensed clinic means that the biological father (ie the sperm donor) is not responsible for maintenance, and as you were married at the time, I think you will be considered to be the father legally speaking, so I don't think you can avoid paying maintenance - it would be pretty much the same situation if the conception had been natural while you were married.
Hello vectra200572
Thank you for your post. I am William the Child Maintenance Options Consultant. You have said that you are being made to pay child maintenance for a child that is not biologically yours. If you believe that the child you have been asked to pay child maintenance for is not biologically yours then you will need to provide evidence to the CSA to support this.
If you have doubts as to the paternity of the child you may want to consider having a DNA test in order to establish for certain whether or not you are the child's biological father. The CSA can offer DNA testing to sort out disagreements about parentage. However, if your ex-wife had donor insemination at a licensed clinic within the UK, you may have a responsibility to pay child maintenance. You can find out more information about confirming the parentage of a child at https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/disagreements-about-parentage.
If you are not the biological father but you have accepted legal responsibility for the child then you will need to seek legal advice about your rights. Citizens Advice Bureau provides free information and advice on topics such as legal, housing and debt. You can find more information about this at http://www.adviceguide.org.uk.
To find out more about how Child Maintenance Options can help you visit http://www.cmoptions.org or call us free on 0800 988 0988 between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday or 9am and 4pm on Saturday.
We have a sorting out separation web-app that you may find useful, it offers help and support to separated families. You can find this at: http://www.dad.info/divorce-and-separation/sorting-out-separation.
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