ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512020001
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
A 4 1/2-year-old girl who was conceived after her father's death with a sample of his sperm isn't his child under law, a Social Security panel ruled, denying benefits to the youngster.
``An individual cannot acknowledge paternity of a child who is not yet in existence,'' the Social Security Administration appeals council ruled. An administrative law judge had found in May that Judith Christine Hart is clearly Edward William Hart Jr.'s child and that she should receive survivor's benefits.
Nancy Hart, the girl's mother, plans to ask a federal judge to overturn the council decision, which was based on Depression-era law.
``Federal law has not caught up with medical science,'' said Kathryn Kolbert, a lawyer for the Harts and vice president of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy.
Louisiana doesn't recognize a child conceived after a parent's death as an heir. The federal government relies on state law in deciding who gets Social Security.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 31 linesby CNB