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Lawyer speculates on legal terrain actor Lee Si-young may face over IVF without ex's input

Published: 08 Jul. 2025, 21:34 Updated: 09 Jul. 2025, 17:56

Actor Lee Si-young attends a photo call for cashmere brand Barrie’s event in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on April 23. [NEWS1]

Actor Lee Si-young, who revealed Tuesday that she became pregnant with her second child through IVF without her ex-husband’s consent, could face legal issues surrounding the child's paternity, according to a lawyer who previously served as a judge at the Seoul Family Court.

Lee Hyun-gon, an attorney at Saeol Law Office, wrote on social media Tuesday that he had received inquiries about Lee’s situation and offered a legal summary.

“If the child is born, the child would not be considered born during a marriage and so paternity must be legally established through a recognition process,” he said.

“The biological father could voluntarily recognize the child, or [the mother] could file a paternity suit,” Lee added. “Once recognition is made, the legal father-child relationship is established.”

While a mother-child relationship is automatically confirmed by birth, the legal relationship between an unmarried father and child is not. If the biological father acknowledges the child, no court case is needed, but if he refuses, the mother can file a civil paternity lawsuit.

“Once legal paternity is established, all rights and duties arise, including parental rights, custody, visitation and inheritance. The duty to pay child support also naturally follows,” Lee said.

However, Lee stressed that the relationship between the parents is a separate matter.

“The decision to carry out an IVF procedure and give birth without the ex-husband’s consent could raise questions of legal liability,” he noted.

Earlier Tuesday, Lee Si-young announced on social media that she is pregnant with her second child by her former husband.

“During our marriage, we prepared for a second child through IVF,” she wrote. “But a long time passed without implanting the embryo, and talks of divorce came up.”

“As all our legal matters were being settled, the five-year storage period for the frozen embryo was nearing its end. Facing the choice to either discard it or move forward, I decided on my own to have it implanted. My ex did not agree with this, but I intend to shoulder the weight of this decision entirely myself,” she said.

Lee continued, “I am simply grateful to this new life that has come to me, and I am more at peace and happier than ever. I will humbly accept any criticism or advice you may have.”

“With deep responsibility, I will live my life sincerely so that this child who has come to me once again will never lack anything, even if I raise the child alone,” she added.

Lee married a restaurateur in 2017 and had her first son in 2018. The couple announced their divorce in March this year.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]