$9M 'Seed' Money : New York Post
Unwitting sperm-bank dad sues ex, NYU
A Brooklyn man who claims his estranged wife forged his name to get hold of his frozen sperm and used it to conceive a daughter has been ordered to pay child support — and has filed a multimillion-dollar suit for reimbursement.
The lawyer for the unwitting dad, LIRR engineer Deon Francois, says New York University's famed fertility clinic should be responsible for the little girl's expenses through college.
The bizarre saga began in 1997 when Francois and his wife, Chaamel, married. Five years later, unable to conceive, the couple consulted experts at NYU, and Deon provided a sperm sample in July 2002.
But the marriage hit the rocks, and Deon left Chaamel in April 2003.
Deon's lawyer, John James, said that according to the NYU contract, the frozen sperm should have been destroyed when his client stopped paying storage fees.
"Personally, I think that NYU should pay the child support and put this child through college," he said.
In court papers, Deon, 34, claims that Chaamel, 36, paid the storage fees until December 2003, when she forged his name on a release, had it notarized and underwent the first of two in-vitro fertilizations.
The following August, Deon visited his wife and said he was shocked to see her pregnant.
"I said, 'So who are you pregnant from?' " he recalled. "She said, 'It's yours.' I said, 'Don't tell me you went to the clinic and did what I think you did.' "
The girl, Nazair, was born Nov. 24, 2004, and Francois said Chaamel immediately hit him up for support.
In court papers, Chaamel, an art teacher and truancy officer at Brooklyn's Wingate HS, denies deceiving Deon.
"For years, we have collectively attempted to conceive a child with the assistance of a fertility clinic," she said in an affidavit.
"He knew full well that I was continuing with our joint efforts."
Deon is seeking $9 million from NYU, his wife and the notary whose seal appears next to Deon's "signature."
The notary, Howard Biren, says in court papers that Chaamel stole his seal.
Francois says he has not asked that criminal charges be filed in connection with the alleged forgery; NYU declined to comment and it's not clear whether the school or the notary is seeking Chaamel's prosecution.
The latest chapter in the bizarre saga took place last Thursday, when Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Sarah Krauss, who is hearing their divorce case, refused to lower his $400 weekly child-support payments for Nazair, who is now 8 months old.
Francois says he's seen the little girl only twice and is heartbroken about being excluded from her life.
"I wanted to be there," the 34-year-old dad said. "I wanted to be in the delivery room. I wanted to raise that child. I want to be there for that child."
Steven Gildin, a lawyer for Chaamel, said the judge's decision on child support was easy.
"It is completely irrelevant as to how this child was conceived, whether it's through intercourse or through a fertility clinic," said Gildin.
"If you don't protect the child, what becomes of the child, who is the most innocent person in this scenario?"
Catholic teaching on human sexuality has two parts. The more familiar is that it is contrary to divine command and to the natural order to separate the sexual act from the possibility of conceiving a human child. The less familiar is that it is likewise immoral to separate human conception from the sexual act.
Here we have a good example of the wisdom and justice of the latter part of that Catholic teaching. In the specifics of the conception and life of Nazair Francois, I'm not judging them only the political and cultural climate that has made reproductive choice such a confusing mess.
Deon and Francois are not divorced but they are in the process of being divorced, so decisions in their lives are being made by Sarah Krauss who is a state judge.
Deon doesn't to pay child support for Nazair, but he wants to raise her.
Chaanel wants Deon to pay $400 a week for child support (He's a LIRR engineer), but doesn't want Deon to have any contact with Nazair.
In the eyes of the law (at least as far as Steve Gildin, Chaanel's attorney and Judge Krauss, it doesn't matter if the child was conceived without the knowledged and consent of Deon, and in the course of criminal actions by Chaanel. She stole the notary's seal and stole the sperm, and she gets to keep the fruit of those acts.
Deon's sense of justice is that the notary and NYU should pay to raise Nazair.
The notary's defense is that his seal was stolen by Chaanel, and NYU's defense is that they are the victims of a fraud.
This little girl needs the intercession of her patron saint, Saint Nazarius, a martyr under the persecution of Nero.
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