As of late, many women in British Columbia are looking into the legalities of family law in a very interesting scenario. These women desire to have children, but they’ve already gotten married, and their husbands do not share the same feelings. When the men don’t want kids and the women do, what options do they have?
Naturally, one option is divorce. Women could then find partners who do want children, or they could use sperm donors or adoption to have children while still single.
However, some are asking more unconventional questions. For example, could a woman go to a sperm donor without getting divorced? Could she then have the child and legally raise it on her own, much as a single parent would, despite not being single?
This raises a lot of questions about the men’s perspectives, as well. If they stay married, can the men still say that they don’t want to be fathers and that they shouldn’t have an obligation to raise the children? Would it be possible for them to refuse to pay to help with the children, since those children are not biologically theirs?
Essentially, all of these questions reach toward the issue of whether or not a couple can take separate paths when it comes to children, without one spouse dragging the other one into something he or she does not desire. It creates a very complex legal situation when looking at support, custody, fathers’ rights and many such issues.
If you or your spouse are considering these options and questions, make sure you know your rights before you do anything else.
Source: The Star Phoenix, “Legal dilemmas in the modern family Non-nuclear families face challenges,” Douglas Quan, June 29, 2015