title: A tale of three women: a survey of the rights and responsibilities of unmarried women who conceive by alternative insemination and a model for legislative reform.
abstract: Courts in a number of jurisdictions have recently confronted questions of legal parentage concerning children conceived by alternative insemination. Typically, the biological mother is contesting the right of either the sperm donor or a non-biological co-parent to custody or visitation. This Note surveys the current state of the law and demonstrates a lack of protection for the rights of unmarried biological mothers and their co-parents. This Note then proposes a new paradigm for establishing the parties' rights and obligations, one that reflects the parties' pre-insemination, mutual intent regarding parenting responsibilities and encourages legal acknowledgement of and protection for the families people are creating with the help of AI.
authors.affiliation: Wellesley College.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Henry
mesh_terms: D002655:Child Custody / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007316:Insemination, Artificial, Heterologous; D033182:Intention; D033222:Judicial Role; D010334:Paternity; D011247:Pregnancy; D015406:Single Parent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013094:Spermatozoa; D014019:Tissue Donors / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*