Editing Openai/6940a7dd-57cc-800a-9d04-d5309cb12945 (section)

=== Assistant: Framed as a classroom hypothetical, this is actually a very good way to surface how family law prioritizes certain rela… ===
Framed as a classroom hypothetical, this is actually a very good way to surface how family law prioritizes certain relationships over others when things go wrong.

I will answer this the way I would expect students to analyze it for a US jurisdiction, knowing that details vary by state but the core principles are very consistent.

===== Family law does not ask who “deserves” the child or who initiated the plan. Courts first ask a threshold question: =====

Who are the child’s legal parents at birth?

Only after that is answered do custody and best interest analyses begin.

Without enforceable pre conception agreements, courts fall back on default parentage rules.

===== In nearly every US state, the woman who gives birth is presumed to be the child’s legal mother. =====

That presumption is extremely strong and exists even when the child is genetically unrelated to her.

Because Hannah gave birth, she is almost certainly a legal parent the moment the child is born.

This alone gives her standing that no other adult except possibly Zeke has automatically.

===== Because Hannah is married, Zeke benefits from the marital presumption of parentage. =====

Most states presume that a child born into a marriage is the legal child of both spouses, regardless of genetics.

Absent a timely and successful challenge, Zeke is presumed to be the legal father.

This presumption exists specifically to promote stability and avoid children being rendered legally parentless.

So at birth, the law almost certainly recognizes Hannah and Zeke as the child’s parents.

===== Larry and Wanda face the weakest position legally. =====

Even without a written donor agreement, courts generally treat sperm and egg donors as non parents unless there is clear evidence they intended to parent the child.

The fact that they later formed a relationship is legally irrelevant.

Intent to parent must exist at the time of conception and must be clearly demonstrated.

Absent that, courts are extremely reluctant to impose parental rights and obligations on genetic donors, especially when a child already has two legally recognized parents.

===== Josh and Elsie’s situation is the tragic lesson of this hypothetical. =====

Even though they initiated the process and intended to raise the child, intent alone does not create parentage without statutory compliance or enforceable agreements.

Courts consistently hold that good intentions do not override birth based presumptions.

They might be able to seek adoption or third party custody, but they do not start with parental rights.

===== At birth, the court would almost certainly recognize: =====

• Hannah as the legal mother
• Zeke as the legal father

Larry and Wanda would almost certainly be treated as donors, not parents.

Josh and Elsie would be legal strangers to the child unless and until adoption occurred.

Custody would not even be litigated among six adults because only two would qualify as legal parents.

Everyone else would need to overcome an extremely high bar to displace them.

===== This outcome reflects three core policy goals: =====

• Protect the child from legal limbo
• Favor certainty at birth
• Avoid multi parent disputes absent clear legislative authorization

Courts prioritize clear, administrable rules over equitable storytelling.

That is why surrogacy statutes, pre birth orders, and written consent agreements exist. They replace default rules that otherwise produce harsh outcomes like this one.

===== The lesson is not “the law is unfair.” =====

The lesson is that assisted reproduction is contract driven law.

When people bypass those guardrails, courts revert to blunt presumptions that privilege birth and marriage over intent and genetics.

That predictability is intentional, even when it feels unjust.

If you want, I can also walk through how this hypothetical changes in states that recognize intended parent doctrines or allow more than two legal parents.