Cole

*507 INTRODUCTION

This is an appeal from a paternity order and a child support order. Our opinion addresses the interplay between Family Code section 7611, subdivision (d) ( *743 section 7611(d) ), 1 which defines a presumed parent, and section 7613, which addresses the legal responsibilities of a sperm donor. For the reasons we explain, a man can be a sperm donor and nevertheless be a presumed parent and responsible for child support under section 7611(d). Based on the evidence in this case, the man was a presumed parent, and we affirm the trial court's order so finding.

The sperm of Brian Jeffrey Cole was used to inseminate Mie Lynn Tsuchimoto, who gave birth to a boy (the child). 2 When the child was six years old, the County of Orange filed a complaint to declare Cole to be the child's father and to seek child support from Cole. Cole defended on the ground that under section 7613-which addresses sperm donors-he could not be the child's parent. The trial court found that, notwithstanding section 7613, (1) there was a rebuttable presumption under section 7611(d) that Cole was the child's parent because Cole had received the child into his home as his natural child and openly…