Last fall, Korean Supreme Court pronounced a noteworthy decision on paternity that a child who was born from other man’s sperm shall be regarded as the man’s child if he agreed that his wife would do artificial insemination by other man’s sperm (refer to the Supreme Court Decision en banc Decision 2016Meu2510 Decided October 23, 2019). A majority of the judges stated that based on Civil Act, a child shall be his or her mother’s husband’s child in case she bore a child by other man’s sperm after getting consent from her husband. They also added that Constitutional Law protects marriage and family life, and the relations between a child from artificial insemination and his or her parent also are based on Constitutional law, so the child shall not be discriminated from other children. The court explained the meaning of the decision lies in that clarifying that blood relationship cannot be the sole criterion to decide the paternity.        

For reference, as for paternity, Civil Act prescribed as follows;

Article 844 (Presumption of Husband’s Paternity of Child)

(1)         A child conceived by a wife during the marriage shall be presumed to be the child of the wife’s husband.

(2)         A child born after two hundred days from the day when the marriage was formed shall be presumed to have been conceived during the marriage.

(3)         A child born within three hundred days from the day when the marital relationship is terminated shall be presumed to have been conceived during the marriage.

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