STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- In a ruling that has the potential to greatly expand the notion of parental responsibility in Sweden, a county court has ruled that a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple must pay child support after the two women separated.

The regional daily Nerikes Allehanda reported on Sunday that the act of artificially inseminating the man's sperm did not sever him from his responsibility in bringing a child into the world. Though he was not listed as the child's guardian, his responsibility was the court's to determine.

Once the court was shown the donated sperm belonged to the donor, it was relatively easy for the judge to declare the donor the biological father, obliging him to pay child support. The court ordered the donor pay 2,838 crowns ($265) per month, for care and support of the child.

The verdict poses a legal dilemma, however, because under Swedish law a sperm donor is not regarded as the legal parent of children conceived with the help of his semen. Sperm donors, however, are normally strictly anonymous, while in this case the man was a friend of the couple and his identity as the father is in no doubt.

The man has appealed.