A British family went to court over a rather surprising story of assisted reproduction, The Guardian reports.
Five years ago a Barnsley couple who were unable to conceive turned to artificial insemination. Because the man had fertility problems, he mixed his sperm with his own father's.
The initiative bore fruit when his wife became pregnant and gave birth to a boy, now five years old.
After learning of the couple's method of conception, the town of Barnsley decided to go to court to force a paternity test to determine who the child's biological father was.
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the municipality had “no interest” in requiring this paternity test and that it was the couple's decision whether to take one or not.
The judge explained that the idea of combining the father's and grandfather's sperm was probably not carefully considered by the couple and that this situation could have a significant impact on the child's psychological well-being.
According to the judge, the boy is “a child who would not have existed without the unusual arrangements made for his conception, but those arrangements also posed emotional risks if the child were to learn about the history of his conception.”