Even if you can't afford child support, a lawyer will not be provided for you. The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that parents who are behind on child support can be jailed for up to year without ever having had legal representation, on the basis that violating court orders is a civil offense rather than a criminal one.
posted by Leta on Mar 23, 2011 - 188 comments

What happens when oral sex leads to pregnancy? Apparently, this can happen 2.5% 0% of the time, although in this case, the father, Dr. Richard O. Phillips is claiming the mother, Dr. Sharon Irons secretly kept the sperm to artificially inseminate herself. He sued for emotional distress (as well as theft, though the theft charge was thrown out); Sherry Colb has written an interesting article on the bizarre case. [Colb previously on MeFi]
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me on Jan 24, 2008 - 138 comments

John Murtari hunger strike protest. John Murtari has been on a hunger strike after being jailed without a jury trail. A PHD in aeronautics, Murtari lost his job and took a lower paying job at an ISP. Unable to pay the extremely high child support payment, he asked the courts to re-adjust his payment. The court denied him. The judge offered him probation or 6 months jail time. Murtari chose jail time with protest. Murtari stated Even Terrorists get a trail by jury. He is finally on a feeding tube, forced down his nose, after loosing 28 lbs. Update with protest photos and his comments on the protest.
posted by IronWolve on Aug 12, 2006 - 60 comments

Bizarre child support battle in Brooklyn A Brooklyn, New York man who stopped paying storage fees for his frozen sperm after divorcing his wife has filed suit against the sperm bank, his ex, and a notary public after learning she picked up the payments and used the sperm to get pregnant. Deon Francois, who now must pay child support, says he didn't want a child and never gave consent for the use of his sperm.
posted by halekon on Jul 27, 2005 - 110 comments

What happens when DNA proves you're not the father of the child you've been compelled to pay to support?
posted by NortonDC on Dec 4, 2002 - 63 comments

Billy Jean's not my lover. Should non-fathers pay child support to someone else's children? More states are saying "no."
posted by kablam on Jun 18, 2002 - 29 comments

Sperm donor is the legal dad? Hmmm, because this guy donated his goods to a lesbian couple, he is the biological father of three children... but now that the couple broke up, the mother wants child support and took him to court. He fought it, but she won...
posted by darian on Feb 1, 2002 - 19 comments

Sperm doner held liable for child support. Lawyers run amok in America? Guess again. And, the sperm doner knew the mother. Should that make any difference? Can this happen here?
posted by Rastafari on Dec 9, 2001 - 33 comments

A California judge has ordered parents to pay $3,500 in monthly child support to their 50-year-old son.
posted by rcade on Aug 5, 2001 - 14 comments