Sperm donor beats lesbians

DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) — A man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple won a legal fight yesterday to keep his biological son in Ireland.
The Supreme Court judgment was a first in Ireland, a predominantly Roman Catholic country where the rights of same-sex couples and sperm donors have not been spelled out. Now the couple, wed in a civil union ceremony in England, cannot spend long periods in Australia with their 14-month-old boy as planned, but can only vacation there for up to six weeks.
The lesbian couple — an Irish woman and an Australian — exchanged vows in January 2006, just after same-sex civil unions were legalized in the United Kingdom. The Irish woman was pregnant by the Irish sperm donor, who signed a contract giving him visitation rights.
The couple restricted the man's access to the boy, then announced they planned to go to Australia for up to a year. The man filed two lawsuits — one to restrict the trip and another seeking joint custody. The custody case is to be heard this fall.