Supreme Court Rules Against Benefits for IVF Babies Conceived After Their Dads’ Death
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Babies born through fertility treatments after their fathers died might not be able to get benefits from the Social Security Administration. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday that each state has the power to determine whether the child can receive benefits or not. According to TIME, the ruling came from the case of Astrue v. Capato where a set of twins conceived through frozen sperm after the death of their father. The court decided that the children could not get Social Security survivor benefits based on the laws of their home state, Florida.
The twins were born 18 months after their father, Robert Capato, died from cancer. Karen Capato, Robert’s wife, used the sperm he froze before his cancer treatments to get pregnant. When Karen tried to get benefits in Florida, she was denied because the law only allowed children who were named in the will to get benefits and inherit property.
What do you think of this ruling? Do you think all children should get social security benefits either way?
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Personally I dont know why anyone would want to have a baby after the Husbands Passing and I think if you make the decision Then social security shouldn’t have to pay for it. If she couldn’t afford them without government assistance in my opinion she shouldn’t have gotten pregnant Not saying there is anything wrong with assistance when something bad happens like the father Dies but She knew the score and the budget before she got pregnant
Why should they receive social security benefits? I agree with the person above. They may be the offspring of the deceased person but they wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for a laboratory. The mother made a conscious decision to bring the children into this world with the help of science and I don’t think that makes them eligible for such benefits…she forfeited the right to government benefits when she conceived via ‘unnatural’ means. By unnatural I am saying that the resulting pregnancy would otherwise be impossible if it weren’t for science.
Brooke…survival social security is not government assistance. It is the money the father paid into social security and any of his surviving children would get automatically if they were alive before his death. The social secuirty is not the issue here…it is whether children that are conceived after the father’s death should have the same rights as the children that were already born before death. Either way the money is going to be given to surviving children.
AND perhaps he froze his sperm knowing he was ill and wanted his wife to still have children. I know if my husband had left sperm and then passed away I would want to still continue his legacy and have his children. He planned to have children and therefore his contributions to the government’s social security should cover them. perhaps if they are given their father’s social security they will not have to go on real government assistance!
If you CHOOSE to get IVF that costs ALLOT OF MONEY TO START WITH …. WHY SHOULD YOU BE ABLE TO GET MONEY FOR IT !! …. exp not after the death of the man who was the father was dead …. and if they allowed that then could any woman ask for benafits from a father of a child conceved after a one night stand , a bad break up etc and he passes away , should the woman be able to claim that child and recive benifits ? ….
Its FAR from fair to say … oh i’m able to pay hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of dollars to concive a baby thu IVF BUT …. my husbands now dead … and i need his Benifits from his death !!!! …thats crazy !!!!
I think we need to look from that mother’s perspective. If my husband were to pass away I would definitely want to use his sperm to have a child, especially if we had not had any. I could not imagine the pain of losing my husband to cancer having wanted to have children with him. I would want so desperately to have a piece of him with me regardless of the cost and I am sure I would assume that they would get the benefits any other child would. My heart breaks for this woman.
I agree with Allison. I would also try to have a baby from my deceased husbands sperm no matter if I were broke or not. Besides, there has to be some kind of loop hole… like amending the will before his death to gender neutral names so the unborn children may still get benefits after his death.