Iowa woman continues fight for Social Security benefits

A West Branch woman's fight to get Social Security benefits for her child who was conceived through artificial insemination nearly two years after her father's death may not have ended Monday with an 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

The next step could be the U.S Supreme Court.

The 8th Circuit reversed a district court's decision, siding with the Social Security Administration, and denied benefits to Patti Beeler's daughter Brynn, who was born in 2003, after Bruce Beeler, 37, died of leukemia in 2001.

The Beelers made the decision to bank semen at a fertility clinic after Bruce Beeler was diagnosed and they found out chemotherapy could cause sterility, according to the ruling. Patti Beeler said her husband was comforted by the belief that she would have his children after he died.

The court agreed with the administration that Brynn, now 8, wasn't eligible for benefits because she isn't a "child" or the natural child of Bruce Beeler within the meaning of the Social Security Act and wasn't dependent on him, "the wage earner," at the time of his death.

Beeler argued the Code of Federal Regulations reference to "natural child" supports her claim that an undisputed biological child of the insured is necessarily a "child" within the act's meaning, according to the ruling. The regulation doesn't exclude the possibility that a "natural child" status can be established by other means, such as an undisputed biological relationship.

There was never any dispute that Brynn wasn't Bruce Beeler's biological daughter, according to the ruling.

The court stated in its opinion that the death of Bruce Beeler at a young age before he and his wife could have children is "profoundly sad" but whether granting insurance benefits to a posthumously conceived child would further the purposes of the Social Security Act is "debatable."

Patti Beeler didn't want to comment on the ruling, Paul Morf, her attorney of Simmons, Perrine, Moyer and Bergman in Cedar Rapids, said Thursday. Morf also said he wasn't going to comment, except to say he would file a writ of certiorari - asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appeals decision - sometime next week.

"We are hopeful the Supreme Court will take up this issue," Morf said. "The circuit courts are split two to two on this - the 3rd and 9th (Circuit Court of Appeals) on her (Beeler's) side and the 8th and 4th on the government's side."

While this case was pending, it led to the Iowa legislature passing a law in April that ensures legitimacy, inheritance and other rights for posthumously conceived and born children like Beeler's daughter. The law, which went into effect July 1, allows children born up to two years after a parent dies to receive inheritance rights and Social Security benefits. However, the law doesn't allow for retroactive application to the time of Bruce Beeler's death.

Iowa is the 12th state to recognize biological relationships of children conceived posthumously. The other states are: California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

In 2009, the latest statistics available, 60,190 babies were born using assisted reproductive technology, which is double from a decade ago, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Similar cases, as Morf referenced, have been decided in favor and against the Social Security Administration in other appeals courts.

In the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, a lower court's decision was reversed in January for a New Jersey woman who filed for benefits on behalf of her twins. They were conceived through in vitro fertilization after their father died from cancer in March 2002, similar to the Beelers' situation. The twins were born in September 2003.

The 3rd Circuit ruled the twins were Capato's biological children and were entitled to benefits. The court concluded:

"What is before us is a discrete set of circumstances and the narrow question posed by those circumstances: are the undisputed biological children of a deceased wage earner and his widow "children" within the meaning of the Act? The answer is a resounding yes."

However, the other part of the ruling is that Karen Capato must prove the twins were dependents or "deemed to be dependents" of Robert Capato at the time of his death. This case is pending review by a U.S. District Court.