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May 23, 2013 | 04:23 PM
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Kan. case reveals risks of assisted reproduction

January 21, 2013 | Modified: January 21, 2013 at 5:47 pm
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Photo - FILE - This Dec. 31, 2012 file photo shows Kansas sperm donor William Marotta who is being sued by the state of Kansas to pay child support after providing sperm to a same-sex couple who split up. Experts believe Marotta put himself in a precarious legal position by getting involved in a lesbian couple's do-it-yourself artificial insemination. (AP Photo/The Topeka Capital Journal, Jeff Davis, File)
FILE - This Dec. 31, 2012 file photo shows Kansas sperm donor William Marotta who is being sued by the state of Kansas to pay child support after providing sperm to a same-sex couple who split up. Experts believe Marotta put himself in a precarious legal position by getting involved in a lesbian couple's do-it-yourself artificial insemination. (AP Photo/The Topeka Capital Journal, Jeff Davis, File)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The case of a Kansas sperm donor being sued by the state for child support underscores the confusing patchwork of laws that govern how assisted reproduction is regulated in the United States.

In late 2012, Kansas officials went after a Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple seeking a sperm donor. William Marotta thought he'd signed away his parental rights, but was deemed financially responsible when the women split and one sought public assistance.

The three didn't go through a doctor — the only way Kansas recognizes men as donors.

Nine states, including Texas and Oklahoma, have updated their laws to eliminate the required doctor's involvement. Others haven't updated their laws to reflect the evolution of family structures, such as parenting by same-sex couples.

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