Ex-husband ordered to pay child support after former wife forged signature to undergo IVF treatment

A German man has been told he must pay child support to his ex-wife after she forged his signature in order to have a child with frozen embryos that he fertilised.

Karl, 37, and Inge, 42, created the embryos using her eggs and his sperm while they were married, then had them frozen so they could have children later in life.

The pair then got divorced but unbeknownst to Karl, Inge went back to the fertility clinic in order to undergo IVF treatment.

Inge forged his signature twice in order to get access to the embryos before giving birth to a boy, German news channel DW reported.

After the birth, Karl became legally obliged to pay for child support despite not consenting to the pregnancy.

He launched a lawsuit at Munich's medical malpractice court in order to get out of the payments, saying the clinic should pay instead.

But judges ruled otherwise on Wednesday, saying he had not been clear enough with the clinic when he called to revoke his permission for the embryos to be used.

Staff at the clinic also had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the signatures and so could not be liable, the judges added.

The decision is not legally binding, according to DW. It is not clear if Karl plans to appeal the ruling.

German courts do not typically give the surnames of people involved in cases for privacy reasons.