Court Rules Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman doesn't owe Child Support for Sperm Donation
by: Anthony Roberts
You may know him as former eight-time Mr. Olympia. You may know him as Ronnie Coleman. But you probably don't know that Coleman has long been involved in fatherhood; he's the father of triplets with one woman (via sperm donation), and two more children with another - his wife, a woman he married while dating IFBB professional Alti Bautista:
Alti learned about the wedding from a mutual friend, which Ronnie denied, denied, and denied - only to have his story busted when wedding photos and pictures of him with his new bride were published online by Flex Magazine:
Here's the story: Several years ago to he agreed to donate sperm at a California sperm bank for a friend of the FB (not Facebook) variety that he'd met in Arlington, Texas. At that time he said he had no interest in having parental duties, but was willing to donate his Olympian sperm to the woman, identified only as Jo D in court documents. They met in 1991 at the apartment complex where they both lived and began an on-again off-again sexual relationship (also known as "dating a bodybuilder").
She eventually moved to California, where Ronnie did shows - and her - throughout his competitive years. Since one of Ronnie's daughters also lived in California, he had occasion to travel there out of competition as well - an opportunity he seized to spend some more intimate time with Ms. Jo D.
Once the children were born, Ronnie (being the stand-up guy that he is) signed papers affirming that he was the father, and not only visited the children at Jo D's home in California, but even had them alone for an overnight visit at his daughter's apartment. This is, of course, is not the typical "sperm donation" kind of relationship/contract, as you might suspect. Coleman denies that he took steps to affirm that he was the "father" instead relying on the defense that he has poor reading skills, saying that he believed the papers he signed was simply confirmation of his being the sperm donator.
This casual relationship was explained as something much more by Jo D in various court filings, where she revealed that they talked about getting married and having children. This was riiiiight around the time that he was publicly dating Alti Bautista aaaaaand preparing to marry his current wife.
But, four years ago he was slapped with a paternity suit alleging that he should be forced to pay child support for the triplets (one of whom tragically passed away).
According to the Dallas Star-Telegram, Coleman "... was totally blown away. [He] was already married and had moved on with [his] life." He neglected to mention that he was married to a woman who was not the girl he was dating for nearly a decade.
So for the past few years, Ronnie had been paying child support, based on a court order, but recently an appeals court overturned the ruling, meaning Mr. Coleman can focus his monetary attentions towards more important things, like chicken breasts and brown rice - in preparation for the comeback that dozens of fans have eagerly been awaiting.
Ultimately, the courts ruled that: "The donor of semen provided to a licensed physician and surgeon or to a licensed sperm bank for use in artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization of a woman other than the donor's wife is treated in law as if he were not the natural father of a child."
Coleman, ever the gentleman, had this to say: "I learned a very valuable and easy lesson: Never donate sperm," Coleman said. "A lot of women asked me to donate sperm. I turned them all down except for one."
I guess the sperm of an ill-educated, steroid-using, philandering, washed-up bodybuilder is in high demand.
http://www.vpxsports.com/article-detail/industry-news/court-rules-mr-olympia-coleman-doesnt-owe-child-support
