A video shared to X (formerly Twitter) on April 16, 2024, that had garnered more than 4 million views as of this publication featured a woman who, according to the post, "allegedly sues her sperm donor for child support."
"I successfully sued my sperm donor and now I get 40% of his paycheck," said the narrator in a purple tank top. "You have no idea how happy this makes me because now I can be a stay-at-home mom."
(Screengrab/X)
However, as is highlighted by a community note that accompanied the post, this video was created by a satirical content creator, @isatandstared, which is clearly stated in the account's TikTok profile. We have rated this claim as "Labeled Satire."
The video in question was posted to TikTok on April 15, 2024 (archive).
@isatandstared #isatandstared #ivf #parenting ♬ original sound - Kass Theaz
It's not the first time that satirical content created by @isatandstared – who goes by "Kass Theaz" – has gone viral after being presented as authentic. In March 2022, Snopes looked into a video posted by Theaz saying that because she did not ask to be born, she was suing her parents for giving birth to them without asking permission.
"I am running a social experiment to see what age demographics are more likely to spread false information on the internet," Theaz wrote to Snopes at the time. "I make satirical videos, put #satire in the caption and have 'satire account' in my bio! It's been interesting to see how little people research."
In her bit, Theaz described having been awarded the lawsuit after suing the "baby's biological father" when her partner broke up with her and "refused" to provide child support. Though this account was fictional, there have been a string of lawsuits between sperm recipients and their doctors.
In 2014, for example, a Kansas court ruled that a sperm donor must pay child support after it was deemed the artificial insemination procedure – which must be conducted by a licensed physician – was done at home.
As Reuters reported in 2016, "a white Ohio woman sued a sperm bank in federal court on Friday for mistakenly giving her, and her white same-sex partner, sperm from an African-American donor, court documents showed."
In 2022, a jury awarded almost $9 million to families who "accused a Colorado fertility doctor of using his sperm to inseminate three mothers who requested anonymous donors," reported The Associated Press.
In a similar suit, an Idaho woman in 2023 also sued her fertility doctor because she said he used his sperm to inseminate her more than three decades prior.