Ferguson v. McKiernan

60 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 167
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County
DecidedDecember 31, 2002
Docketno. 1259 DR 1999
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 60 Pa. D. & C.4th 353 (Ferguson v. McKiernan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Dauphin County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ferguson v. McKiernan, 60 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 167 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

EVANS, J.,

This unusual action arose when plaintiff filed for child support claiming that the defendant was the putative father of the twin boys plaintiff gave birth to on August 25, 1994. On February 7, 2000, defendant filed preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer arguing that at the time the children were conceived, the plaintiff was married to her then husband, Paul S. Ferguson. Defendant also argued that Mr. Ferguson was named as the father on the birth certificates and that the plaintiff gave the children his last name, thus invoking the presumption that Mr. Ferguson was the natural father of the children. Plaintiff counter-argued that at the time of conception, plaintiff was married but had been separated from her husband for almost one year. The children were conceived through in vitro fertilization on February 14, 1994, the same date that [355]*355Mr. Ferguson filed for divorce from plaintiff. The divorce was finalized on June 27,1994. There was no testimony that Mr. Ferguson ever held himself out as the father of the twins, nor that he accepted such role.

On November 9, 2000, a hearing was held in which the court determined the plaintiff had overcome the presumption that Mr. Ferguson was the natural father of the children. N.T. 11/9/00 at 73. At that time, defendant denied paternity. Id. at 76. Defendant submitted to DNA testing that concluded defendant could not be excluded as the children’s biological father.1 On August 20, 2001, an appeal was heard on the Dauphin County Domestic Relations’ determination. The record was kept open for a supplemental hearing on March 7, 2002. For the following reasons, we hold that the defendant is the legal father of the children and must therefore pay child support insofar as he directly and knowingly brought them into this world. This opinion, however, does not address any cause of action for indemnification by the plaintiff herself.

Our decision is conditioned on the extremely convoluted facts of this case. Plaintiff and defendant met in 1990 and were co-workers at Pennsylvania Blue Shield. N.T. 8/20/01 at 8. The parties began a physical relationship in 1991 while maintaining separate residences during the relationship. Id. During the course of their relationship, plaintiff and defendant broke up several times [356]*356before getting back together. Id. at 10. The defendant never used condoms during intercourse because plaintiff cajoled defendant that she was using a new form of birth control, the Norplant device, which required having a metal pin inserted into her arm. Id. at 14. Plaintiff also revealed to defendant’s brother she was using some method of birth control that did not involve the use of birth control pills. Id. at 106. During the relationship, however, plaintiff never enlightened defendant of the fact that plaintiff had a tubal ligation following the birth of her second child, thus rendering her sterile. Id. at 15.

During the summer of 1993, their relationship waned as their affection began to dwindle. Id. However, plaintiff first raised with defendant the possibility of conceiving a child with him. Id. at 18. Defendant immediately declined to conceive a child through intercourse despite his unawareness of plaintiff’s inability to do so. Id. Later in 1993, plaintiff then requested that defendant donate his sperm for purposes of artificial insemination, thus removing him as a natural, biological father, but rather as a sperm donor. Id. Defendant, reluctant at first, agreed to do so after being assured by plaintiff that she had thoroughly considered being a single mother and that she had sufficient financial resources to raise a child on her own. Id. at 19. Both parties entered into an oral contract where defendant would purely be an anonymous sperm donor, to everyone except the plaintiff, provided that he would have no responsibility to any children born from the procedure. Id. Moreover, defendant would have no rights to the children, nor would he be obligated to financially support them. Id. at 20.

[357]*357Earlier in 1993, plaintiff consulted with her physician about having her tubal ligation reversed. N.T. 11/9/00 at 15-17. However, in September 1993, after being informed the ligation could not be reversed, plaintiff spoke with Dr. William Dodson at the Hershey Medical Center about becoming pregnant using the IVF procedure. Id. at 19. At that meeting, it was represented to the hospital that the man accompanying the plaintiff was her husband, Mr. Ferguson.2 In fact, the testimony indicates that the defendant was unaware of these preliminary consultations. Numerous papers, charts, and forms were completed without the defendant’s knowledge or presence. This latent subterfuge by the plaintiff is the cornerstone of the defendant’s position. Clear to this court as it is, we hinge our decision on a different legal axiom.

The plaintiff was then accepted as a candidate for IVF. On February 14, 1994, pursuant to the parties’ agreement, the defendant went to Hershey Medical Center and provided a sample of his semen which was then used by Dr. Dodson to successfully impregnate plaintiff. The procedure resulted in the conception of twin boys who were bom prematurely on August 25, 1994. At no time did defendant bear any of the costs related to the procedure. N.T. 8/20/01 at 27.

Defendant remained friends with plaintiff during her pregnancy although he never attended any of her prenatal examinations. Id. at 32. Defendant intended to remain [358]*358anonymous during plaintiff’s pregnancy. However, defendant’s brother noticed plaintiff’s pregnant condition and plaintiff stated that defendant was the father. Id. at 112. Defendant’s brother subsequently confronted defendant and defendant admitted to being the donor. Id. at 24. Defendant also admitted to his parents that he was the donor after they received anonymous phone calls. Id. at 25.

The plaintiff subsequently went into premature labor and was frantic over the possibility of losing the twins. Id. at 33. In a panic, plaintiff called defendant and asked him to attend the birth, which defendant did because he believed plaintiff could turn to no one else. Id. at 34. During the birth, defendant maintained his anonymity and did not represent himself as the father. Id. In continuing her misrepresentation to the hospital, the plaintiff named Paul Ferguson as the father on the birth certificates. Id. at 35.

After the twins were bom, defendant saw plaintiff and the boys on a few occasions in the hospital. Id. at 37. Approximately two years after the births, defendant spent an afternoon with plaintiff and the twins while visiting his parents in Harrisburg. Id. Defendant never provided the children with financial support or gifts, nor did he assume any parental identity. Id. at 38. Defendant had no further contact with either plaintiff or the children until May 1999 when plaintiff randomly obtained defendant’s phone number and subsequently filed for child support. Id.

The court first finds that an oral agreement existed between plaintiff and defendant in that the defendant [359]*359volunteered to anonymously donate his sperm for the IVF procedure in exchange for being released of any rights to the children or obligation to pay child support. Oral contracts are normally enforceable.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ferguson v. McKiernan
940 A.2d 1236 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
60 Pa. D. & C.4th 353, 2002 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ferguson-v-mckiernan-pactcompldauphi-2002.