Johnson v. Superior Court
Court of Appeal of California
95 Cal. Rptr. 2d 864 (Cal. Ct. App. 2000)
The Johnsons (plaintiffs) hired California Cryobank (defendant) for artificial insemination using anonymous donor sperm, signing a contract promising never to seek information about the donor's identity. Their daughter Brittany was later diagnosed with a serious kidney disease, and the Johnsons sued Cryobank, claiming the donor had a family history of kidney disease; they sought to depose the anonymous donor and obtain his medical records, but Cryobank moved to quash the subpoena, which the trial court granted.
Whether parents and their child, conceived using an anonymous sperm donor's sperm, may compel the donor's deposition and production of documents to discover information relevant to a suit against the sperm bank for transmitting a disease to the child.