Chicago- A Cook County family court judge has ordered Chicago doctor Richard Phillips to double his child support payments, and he’ll soon start building a relationship with a 5-year-old daughter he’s never met.
But he won’t give up a pending civil lawsuit accusing his old flame, Olympia Fields doctor Sharon Irons, of a “calculated, profound personal betrayal” after a brief tryst in 1999. Phillips insists the pair never had intercourse and that Irons “harvested” his sperm after oral sex to impregnate herself.
Phillips won a victory in the case last month when an appeals court ruled — if he can actually prove he was the victim of a sperm scheme — Irons can be held liable for inflicting emotional damages.
Irons insists she got pregnant “the old-fashioned way,” and notes Phillips sued her only after he was slapped with a paternity suit. In contradiction to Phillips’ claims, Irons said they simply had sex and later watched as results of a home pregnancy test flashed positive.
Even though DNA testing proved Phillips is the father, in court Friday he asked a judge to reconsider an earlier ruling making him legally responsible for the child. Circuit Judge Luciano Panici instead ordered the feuding couple to begin hammering out details of the paternity dispute.
About a year after Phillips was deemed the baby’s father, he agreed to pay $800 a month in child support. Panici temporarily doubled the child support payments to $1,600 until further information is brought to court about Phillips’ income and debt obligations.
Phillips agreed to begin visitation with the girl; social workers will be on hand as he’s introduced as her father.
“I’ve never heard this child’s voice before,” Phillips said, adding that he now plans to file a petition for joint custody of the girl.