One judge out in Oklahoma issued a ruling this past week which stated that a woman has no parental rights to a child that she had raised alongside her ex-wife but the sperm donor the pair used for the child holds a legal claim as the child’s biological father.
Kris Williams was married to Rebekah Wilson when the latter ended up giving birth to a child back in August of 2019, as reported by People magazine. WIlliams was put down on the child’s official birth certificate as a “second mother” for the child, highlighted the outlet. However, everything ended up becoming highly complicated in the wake of the pair splitting up recently.
The ruling stated that Williams intentionally chose to use a known sperm donor when she chose to have a child “in order for the minor child to know and have a relationship with his biological father.”
Wilson agreed to take part in a “Known Sperm Donor Agreement” with sperm donor Harlan Vaughn. The document expressed that she would “conceive and raise a child,” and that “Wilson and the ‘conceived child’ would constitute a ‘family,'” per court documents.
The documents go on to say that Wilson and Vaughn “participated in several at-home, non-medically assisted inseminations” back in December 2018 which resulted in Wilson becoming pregnant with the biological child of Vaughn.
Following that, WIlliams and Wilson married back on the 1st of June, 2019, while Wilson was still pregnant and William was aware of that fact. Williams was there at the time of the birth of the baby and the child was given the last name Williams. Vaughn was not present at the time of the birth but did end up getting notified, state the court documents.
The filing also spotlights that Williams was an active part of the small child’s life until November of 2021, which was when Wilson officially filed a Victim Protective Order against Williams, pointing out “domestic abuse and harassment.” It was at that point that Wilson took the child to go and live with Vaughn, the father of the small child.
Wilson officially filed for divorce from Williams back at the end of 2021 and shared via a court filing that the two did not have any children together, but that “there is one child that was born during the marriage, however, the alleged/biological father has held himself out as the father for approximately the last year and a half, the minor child knows his biological father and his biological extended family.” it was also stated in the court papers that the child knew Vaughn as “dad.”
The main reason that the Oklahoma judge gave for ruling in favor of the biological father was the fact that Williams chose to not attempt to go through with any legal adoption proceedings while she was still in a relationship with Wilson.
“Williams, through her testimony and exhibits presented during the trial, admitted that she and Wilson discussed adoption. Furthermore, Williams admitted she knew that under Oklahoma Law she needed to adopt the minor child to establish parental rights,” explained Lynne McGuire, an Oklahoma County District Judge.
“The reality is that the law provides a legal remedy available to Williams. She knowingly chose not to pursue it.”