Judges limit North Carolina child support law requirement in IVF case involving same-sex couple

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s intermediate-level appeals court has reversed a local judge’s decision that ordered a woman to pay child support to her ex-partner who gave birth through in vitro fertilization. A majority on a Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday the local judge was treating an unmarried same-sex couple differently from how the law treats unmarried heterosexual couples. The appeals judges found that someone acting as a child’s parent can’t be ordered to pay child support unless the person is an actual parent, or has formally agreed to provide compensation. They say neither was true in a Charlotte-area case, which could now be heard by the state Supreme Court.