## Facts

- E.E., unmarried, sought to conceive without using a sperm bank or physician-assisted insemination.
- O.M.G.R., a friend, agreed to provide sperm for E.E. to inseminate herself; no licensed physician supervised any part of the process.
- After conception, the parties executed and notarized an agreement stating O.M.G.R. “relinquished” all parental rights and obligations (including support, custody, and visitation) and E.E. would be the sole parent and provider.
- A child was born in December 2010; no father was listed on the birth certificate.
- After the birth, the parties signed a consent order repeating that O.M.G.R. had no rights or responsibilities and E.E. had sole responsibility for the child.
- E.E. applied for court approval to terminate O.M.G.R.’s parental rights, grant E.E. sole custody, and deny O.M.G.R. visitation based on the private agreement and consent order.

## Issues

1. Whether New Jersey law permits termination of a biological parent’s rights and obligations by private contract and consent, without adoption or statutory grounds for termination.
2. Whether N.J.S.A. 9:17-44 (artificial insemination) applies to a self-administered insemination without physician supervision so that the sperm donor is not the legal father.

## Decision

- The court denied E.E.’s request to terminate O.M.G.R.’s parental rights based on the agreement and consent order.
- The court held that parental rights cannot be terminated by private contract or consent absent statutory authority, and consent termination generally requires adoption by another person.
- The court held N.J.S.A. 9:17-44 did not apply because the insemination was not performed under the supervision of a licensed physician.
- O.M.G.R. remained the child’s legal father, retaining parental rights and obligations, including support.

## Legal Principles

- Termination of parental rights is governed by statute, not by common-law contract principles.
- A parent’s rights and obligations may not be extinguished by consent unless the termination occurs within an authorized statutory framework, typically including adoption.
- N.J.S.A. 9:17-44’s donor nonpaternity rule requires physician-supervised insemination and does not extend to informal, self-administered insemination arrangements lacking statutory conditions.
- A child’s right to support cannot be prospectively waived by parental agreement, and private arrangements that attempt to eliminate support obligations are void as against public policy.

## Conclusion

The court refused to enforce a private donor agreement and consent order purporting to eliminate the biological father’s parental status after an informal, non-physician-supervised insemination, holding that parental rights may be terminated only through statutory mechanisms and that the artificial insemination statute did not apply on these facts.


E.E. v. O.M.G.R., 420 N.J. Super. 283, 20 A.3d 1171 (Ch. Div. 2011)