Actor Jason Patric is one step closer to being recognized as the legal father of his biological son. Patric and on-again off-again girlfriend Danielle Schreiber conceived the child through in vitro fertilization. About a year after their son was born, the couple broke up for good. That is about all they agree on.
Patric has been fighting for parental rights ever since. He claims he indicated “an intent to parent” at the time of conception — he signed forms at the family planning clinic that handled the in vitro fertilization. He also says he and Schreiber co-parented the boy before their final breakup. And, he had visitation rights for a short time before Schreiber cut off all contact between father and son.
For her part, Schreiber claims Patric agreed to be a sperm donor but made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the child after it was born. He signed no parental agreement before the child was born, and he never signed the birth certificate, she says. As for co-parenting for a year, she claims he was not an involved parent, that he never did so much as to change a diaper.
In a court proceeding over visitation last year, Schreiber argued that Patric was nothing more than a sperm donor. Under California law — all of this has played out in California — the parents of a child conceived with donated sperm must sign a written agreement prior to conception if they want the biological father to have parental rights. The document Patric claimed to have signed at the family planning clinic would not have the same force and effect.
The court agreed, and Patric fought on. We’ll continue this in our next post.
Source: Daily Mail, “Jason Patric wins his appeal to legally be recognized as the father of his four-year-old son conceived via in-vitro with ex-girlfriend,” Snejana Farberov and James Gordon, May 14, 2014
