Court rules no benefits for Utah sperm donor's offspring

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court has ruled that a Utah boy who was conceived with the frozen sperm of his dead father does not qualify for Social Security survivor’s benefits.

The ruling wasn’t necessarily a surprise. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that children conceived by artificial insemination after their fathers died aren’t automatically entitled to benefits.

Gayle Burns has been trying to get survivor’s benefits for a son who was conceived with her husband’s sperm two years after the husband died of infection caused by a stem-cell transplant.

The husband signed an agreement leaving preserved, frozen semen to his wife. But the state court ruled Friday that the agreement did not automatically make the donor a parent for purposes of Social Security benefits.