Benefits denied to girl conceived with dead father’s sperm

A 10-year-old Los Angeles girl conceived with her dead father’s frozen sperm is not entitled to his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals court panel has ruled.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower-court ruling that the child, Brandalynn Vernoff, was ineligible for the federal survivor payments under California law, which considers factors in addition to biology in determining inheritance rights.

Brandalynn’s father, Bruce Vernoff, died accidentally in July 1995. Thirty hours after his death, his wife, Gabriela Vernoff, had a doctor extract his sperm and freeze it. She was impregnated with it in 1998 and gave birth to Brandalynn in 1999, said Wally Vernoff, Bruce Vernoff’s father and an attorney representing the widow.

She sought survivor benefits for her daughter from the Social Security Administration, but was rejected. Her claim was also turned away in U.S. District Court.

California law grants inheritance rights only to children conceived within 300 days of the parent’s death, the appeals court said. The panel also said there was no evidence that Vernoff had given written consent for his sperm to be used to impregnate his wife.

“Consent, in turn, demonstrates a willingness to support the child and an intent to create the child,” the court said.

Wally Vernoff said an appeal by the family is being considered.

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nicole.santacruz@latimes.com