Man sues estranged with for kidney he donated.

A US man divorcing his wife is demanding that she return the kidney he donated to her or pay him $1.5m (£1m) in compensation.

Dr Richard Batista told reporters that he decided to go public because he was frustrated at the slow pace of divorce negotiations with his estranged wife.

He said he had not only given his heart to his wife, Dawnell, but donated his kidney to save her life.

But divorce lawyers say a donated organ is not a marital asset to be divided.

Dr Batista married Dawnell in 1990 and donated the kidney to her in 2001. She filed for divorce in 2005 and a settlement has still not been reached.

He told reporters at his lawyer's office in Long Island, New York, that going public was a last resort.

"There is no deeper pain that you can ever express than betrayal from somebody who you love and devoted your life to," he said.

He said he had been prevented from seeing their three children for extended periods.

"I felt humiliated, betrayed, disrespected and disregarded for me as a person, as a man, as a husband, as a father."

Dr Batista's lawyer, Dominic Barbara, said his client was "asking for the value of the kidney" that he gave his wife.

A lawyer for Mrs Batista said: "The facts aren't as represented by Dr Batista. We will be addressing the issues before the judge within the next few days."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7818751.stm

Discuss!

How can you ask someone to return a donated organ? 😬

Obviously if he wins the case, it will have to be the $1.5m settlement, since she needs that kidney to live. I want to know in more detail the events that led to the divorce before I decide if his request is warranted. I'm still in the wife's favor though. The organ was donated, and it's not the sort of asset that is to be divided in a divorce settlement.

While strange, it can still be a gift and I'm fairly certain gifts can be divided between the parties/compensated for like any other asset during a divorce. Definitely an odd case though; I doubt a judge will allow it.

In the very least, she should give him any and all of their shared assets he wants, she is alive because of his kidney.

By his comments, it seems she cheated on him.

I laughed a lot when I read this today

It's not funny. It's actually kind of sad.

Both of them are assholes, anyways. He's putting her life in jeopardy, and she seems to be one hell of a ***** from his comments.

He's not putting her life in danger, as no doctor would perform an operation that would kill her. She hurt him, he wants to hurt her back, 1.5 million is a lot of hurt.

Does she even have that type of money?

I dunno. I personally wouldn't do it, but I definitely sympathize with him.

I saw that last night on the news...even wifey agrees "if" they were not total kinksters she should pay...who knows what dirt she has on him though...he coulda been cheatin on her with a nurse...tis a common occurence cause they are always werking and dont get to be home as much as they should etc...will be interesting to see how this turns out...some pissed off nurse is gonna put a vid of him on u tube..lol

Don't they sign legal/medical documents when donating organs? Bit like suing a sperm bank for not handing back your sperm.

dont know...sounds like a job for......googleman!...thats not me by the way...someone else spend an hour checking..lol

****...If he wins she'll probably need to sell the kidney to make the money.

Yeah, he's really just asking that what he did during the marriage is considered in the divorce settlement. He doesn't want to rip the kidney out of her, just say "Hey, guys, I'm not that bad a guy, my wife only lives because of me, so maybe don't take all my money (or give me some) and let me see my children every once in a while, k?"

Silly? Maybe, but not really damning. The phrasing of course is a bit dumb, but I am sure that the Newspaper's reporting it helped make it as "putrageous" as possible.

dude gave the ho a kdiney. She should be bending over backwards to accommodate that man. That is some really righteous shit. Of course,however, this dude will get the short end of the shit stick. No good deed goes unpunished.

How is he living without a heart?

Originally posted by Robtard
While strange, it can still be a gift and I'm fairly certain gifts can be divided between the parties

Not when it's a single kidney . . .

ho u best give back that kidney i aint playing you going at least pay foe it!!!! hoe!! u listen'in getting all indignate and what not!!!

seriously tho the guy shouldnt have to pay any child support after what he did.. also the gift thing is a good point. when you give someone a gift it is with the understanding that you have some kind of relation.
like the whole engagement ring deal that some state make the ppl give back if it doesnt work out.

dont you hate it when you get mesmerize with luv

She was stalling over the divorce.

2005 2006 2007 2008 she's been stalling him through her lawyers.

To get the divorce going he's had to do something to get her and her representatives to quitt running down the clock.

obviously the nicest guy since Jesus routine isn't working.

I don't think medical donation constitutes as a gift or an asset...he has no case IMO. However when the Judge does divvy up assets he should note the sacrifice the man made for his wife- but it cannot be used as leverage against her...

The wife watched a new clip of this, said the woman had a long standing affair and that's the reason the couple is divorcing; that's just cold, dude saves your life and you cheat on him, the very least she could have done is been honest before she cheated and ended the marriage then.

It should be noted that my wife being a woman is also untrustworthy.

not all chics suck..my old lady is kewl many years to back it up

Prove it!