WASHINGTON (AP) — Should babies conceived through artificial insemination after a father’s death get his Social Security survivor benefits?
The Supreme Court is grappling with that question after government officials rejected a benefits claim from Florida twins whose mother used her husband’s frozen sperm to conceive them after his death.
The Capato twins were born through artificial insemination 18 months after Robert Capato died of cancer. The Social Security Administration denied them survivor benefits, saying that to qualify as Capato’s children under federal law he needed to be alive during their conception.
The lower courts agreed, adding that under Florida law, they would not inherit anything from Capato because they were born after his death. Social Security officials use state inheritance laws as a backup.
