In Florida and other states, the word “family” is going through some rapid changes. With those changes come necessary revisions in family law and child custody policies. Throughout these changes, the foremost goal of lawmakers is to keep in mind the best interests of the nation’s children.

One of these changes involves sperm donors. In the past, laws have excluded sperm donors from having any responsibility for any children born from their donation. Yet today, there are men who do not want to be anonymous donors. They want to become involved in the lives of the children who come into the world because of their donation. California’s legislature is even now attempting to allow the possibility that some willing sperm donors can become a part of the lives of children that their donation helped to create. Sperm donors who wish not to become involved in the children’s lives, though, will still be protected with anonymity.

If the proposed law passes, other states may follow suit to pass similar legislation, including Florida. The rights of men who want to be involved in the lives of the children that they sire and the women to whom they donate should probably be considered by legislators as they debate the implications of new technologies that impact people’s lives.

As long as legislators keep the best interests of the children at the forefront of their debate, and give the courts the ability to determine the children’s best interests on a case-by-case basis, these laws may help sperm donors who are involved in the children’s lives to have the same rights as natural fathers.