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(BUTTON) Search with google * Make a contribution * Subscribe * (BUTTON) International edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the US edition + switch to the Australia edition * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Newsletters * Today's paper * Inside the Guardian * The Observer * Guardian Weekly * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland (BUTTON) More UK news Lesbian mother hits back in row over donor's support payments Claire Truscott and Rachel Williams Tue 4 Dec 2007 13.47 GMT * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email A lesbian claiming child support from her firefighter friend who donated sperm for two children has rejected his claim that he is being unfairly treated. Andy Bathie, 37, said yesterday that he was being made to support their son and daughter, in a case believed to be the first of its kind in Britain. He claimed the women, who approached him five years ago after other male friends declined to become donors, assured him he would have no personal or financial involvement in the children's upbringing. But today Terri Arnold - who has since separated from her partner Sharon - insisted Bathie had wanted to act as father to her children. She told GMTV: "He was a father to the children, a dad. He played a father's role for two years of their, well, my daughter's life." Arnold admitted she had made an initial arrangement with Bathie for him just to be a donor. But she said: "He was Uncle Andy but, after the christening, he said he didn't want to be the uncle; he wanted to be the daddy. It was him that changed his mind." She said Bathie saw her daughter one weekend every month for two years. "We've got photographs of our little girl at his home, we've got a box full of birthday and Christmas cards from him saying 'from daddy'. He bought her a silver trinket box and engraved it 'daddy'," she said. Arnold said Bathie paid towards his daughter's pram and shoes and regularly bought her treats and presents. Two years after her birth, Bathie became the lesbian couple's sperm donor for a second time and Arnold gave birth to a little boy. But shortly afterwards, Arnold said he no longer wanted to see the children. Bathie is campaigning for a change in the law to stop him being recognised as their legal parent after the Child Support Agency contacted him in November and made him take a £400 paternity test. The agency then demanded support payments because the two women had split up. She said: "At the end of the day, he walked away. He knew full well. It is not like the CSA contacted him out of the blue. My son was diagnosed with a disability after he was born. He was still seeing my daughter on a regular basis." Their son, now aged two, suffers from a serious digestive problem. "I couldn't return to work because of my son being in hospital so much," Arnold said. "I was then informed by the CSA that if I did not give the father's details then my income support would be cut down, and I wouldn't be able to afford to live." Yesterday, Bathie denied being part of the children's lives. He said: "I did look into the legal side and understood that, as a couple, [Arnold and her partner] would be the parents, not me. I was never daddy. They wanted children as a couple, which means they should take responsibility. The CSA admit that mine is an unusual case - this is double standards." Only men who donate sperm through licensed fertility clinics do not become the legal father of any children conceived using their donation. Proposed legislation, at committee stage in the House of Lords before passing to the Commons, would give equal parenting rights, including financial responsibilities, to both members of same-sex couples, but the change will come too late for Bathie, who is lobbying for the laws to be made retrospective and for him not to be seen as the legal father of the children, now aged two and four. A spokeswoman for the CSA said: "Unless the child is legally adopted, both biological parents are financially responsible; the Child Support Agency legislation is not gender or partnership based." Bathie said he could not now afford to have his own children. He told London's Evening Standard newspaper: "These women wanted to be parents and take on the responsibilities that brings. I would never have agreed to this unless they had been a committed family. And now I can't afford to have children with my own wife. It's crippling me financially." At the time of his donation, Bathie was in a relationship with a woman who was not planning to have children, but he has since married someone else. Natalie Gamble, a fertility law expert at Lester Aldridge, who has advised Bathie, said the case was the first of its kind she had come across. "Currently, a non-birth mother in this situation is not automatically recognised as the parent in law, so she is not financially responsible. If the law being proposed was to apply in Andy's case, his responsibility for the child would be passed to the non-birth mother," said Gamble. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority warned that "DIY" donors using methods such as unlicensed websites or home insemination were financially liable for their offspring. The MP Phil Willis, who chairs the Commons innovation, universities and skills select committee, which deals with human fertilisation and research, said: "The CSA has to look very carefully at the issue. I suspect he won't get his money back, as there would be a flood of similar applications." Topics * UK news * LGBT rights * Children * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Pinterest * Share on WhatsApp * Share on Messenger * Reuse this content Most popular * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk + Contact us + Complaints & corrections + SecureDrop + Work for us + Privacy policy + Cookie policy + Terms & conditions + Help + All topics + All writers + Digital newspaper archive + Facebook + Twitter + Advertise with us + Search UK jobs + Dating + Discount Codes Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Contribute Subscribe Back to top © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 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