You are pregnant, or you had a baby in the last two years, and the father is not helping. Maybe he says he will pay "once the baby is here." Maybe he says he is not sure the baby is his. Either way, you have been carrying the doctor bills, the insurance premiums and the hospital balance on your own, and wondering whether child support from conception in South Carolina is real. It is.

Short answer: Under S.C. Code § 63-17-325, a biological father owes child support starting on the date of conception, plus half of the mother's pregnancy expenses, including half of any health insurance premiums she paid herself while pregnant. The law took effect May 25, 2023, so for a pregnancy that began on or after that date, the claim can reach back years.

What § 63-17-325 says

The statute is short. It says a biological father "has a duty to pay the mother of the child the following financial obligations beginning with the date of conception." It then lists two obligations: child support "in an amount determined pursuant to Section 63-17-470," which is the statute that adopts the South Carolina Child Support Guidelines, and "fifty percent of the mother's pregnancy expenses." You can read the full text on the South Carolina Legislature's Title 63, Chapter 17 page.

Three rules shape the pregnancy-expense half of the claim:

• •Credit for what each parent already paid. Any part of the expenses paid by the mother or the father "reduces that parent's fifty percent obligation regardless of when" it was paid. A father who covered the ultrasound gets credit for it.
• •Insurance premiums count. Pregnancy expenses "must include fifty percent of the mother's insurance premiums that are not paid by her employer or governmental program," from conception until the pregnancy ends, unless the court orders otherwise.
• •No double counting. If the court divides pregnancy expenses as part of a child support award, the separate fifty-percent rule does not also apply.

The statute adds one more duty. Where a pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, the biological father is also responsible for the full cost of the mother's mental health counseling arising out of it.

Why 2023 matters: which pregnancies the law reaches

Section 63-17-325 was enacted as part of 2023 Act No. 70 and took effect on May 25, 2023. The date that matters is the date of conception, not the date of birth. As a rough guide, a full-term baby born in mid-February 2024 or later was most likely conceived after the law took effect. Your prenatal records will fix the conception date more precisely, and that date is what a court will look at.

Be careful here. No South Carolina appellate court has yet interpreted § 63-17-325. What this article describes is how the statute reads and how we expect courts to apply it — a sound argument, not a decided question. In particular, we expect a court to hold that the statute does not reach a child conceived before May 25, 2023. Parents of older children are not out of luck. Whether to order retroactive support "rests within the sound discretion of the family court," as the South Carolina Supreme Court put it in Thornton v. Thornton, 328 S.C. 96 (1997). In Smith v. Doe, 366 S.C. 469 (2005), a case between parents who never married, the family court ordered support "starting from the commencement of the action," and the Supreme Court affirmed. Support can sometimes reach back further still. In Major v. Major, 277 S.C. 318 (1982), the Court made support due from the date a child moved in with his mother, and it rejected "any suggestion that a parent may waive a child's right to support by agreement or otherwise." But the pregnancy-expense claim and support for the months before birth most likely belong only to pregnancies that began after the law took effect.

Retroactive support and interest when paternity is contested

Subsection (C) is where the law gets teeth. The father's duties "accrue at the time of conception and must be applied retroactively when paternity is contested, and medical evidence establishes the paternity of the child." Interest then runs from conception until the balance is brought current or paid in full, at the rate the South Carolina Supreme Court sets each year for money judgments.

In plain terms: a father who denies the baby is his, and is then shown by genetic testing to be the father, can face a back balance running from conception, with interest. Denying paternity does not stop the clock. It can make the final number larger.

One open question: the retroactivity sentence is written for cases where paternity is contested. Whether a court will also reach back to conception when paternity was never in dispute is an argument the first sentence of the statute supports — the duty begins "with the date of conception" — but it is not one an appellate court has settled.

What counts as pregnancy expenses

The statute does not define the term, apart from the insurance-premium rule. In ordinary usage it covers prenatal visits, ultrasounds and lab work, delivery and hospital charges, and the co-pays and deductibles you paid along the way. Keep every bill, explanation of benefits, receipt and premium statement, and every text showing what the father paid.

A 2026 Senate bill, the Mothers and Preborns Act (S. 717), would define pregnancy expenses as "reasonable prenatal costs, reasonable postpartum recovery care, and the reasonable cost of birth" and would limit the duty to unmarried fathers. It passed the Senate in April 2026 and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee in May 2026. It is not law. Until a court or the General Assembly says more, the definition is open.

If Medicaid paid for the birth, expect the father to argue that those charges were never your expenses to recover. Your strongest claim is for what you paid yourself.

How to claim child support from conception in South Carolina

• •Establish paternity. If you were not married, paternity is not automatic. Our guide on how to establish paternity as an unwed father in South Carolina walks through the process from the other side of the case.
• •Gather the paper. Bills, insurance statements, pay stubs showing premium deductions, and proof of anything the father paid. The credit rule cuts both ways, so his payments matter too.
• •Think twice before relying on a DSS case alone. DSS can open a child support case for you, but its attorneys represent the State's interest, not yours. A pregnancy-expense claim is easy to leave on the table.
• •Put the start date in writing. Any agreement or order should state the date support begins and the pregnancy-expense amount, so neither can be argued about later.
• •Do not wait. How long you have to bring a claim under § 63-17-325 has not been settled. Assume the clock is running.

The ongoing support amount, once the baby is born, comes from the Guidelines worksheet, which uses both parents' incomes. We walk through that formula in an upcoming article on how child support is calculated in South Carolina. And remember that support is paid as ordered — as we explain in why direct payments do not count toward South Carolina child support, buying diapers is not the same as paying support.

If you are the father

The same statute protects you. Every dollar you paid toward the pregnancy reduces your half, no matter when you paid it, so keep records and pay in a way you can prove. If you truly doubt paternity, ask for testing early. Contesting paternity does not pause the obligation; if testing confirms you are the father, the balance runs from conception with interest.

Frequently asked questions

My baby was born in 2022. Does this law help me?

Most likely not for pregnancy expenses or for support before birth, because the law took effect May 25, 2023. You can still ask the family court for support. Under Thornton and Smith v. Doe, discussed above, the court can order it back to the date you filed, and in some cases earlier.

Does the father have to pay half the hospital bill?

Section 63-17-325 makes him responsible for fifty percent of the mother's pregnancy expenses, less credit for what he already paid. Delivery charges fall within the ordinary meaning of the term, though the statute does not list them by name.

Can I get child support for the months before the baby was born?

The statute says the support obligation begins at conception and is set under the Guidelines. How a court will calculate Guidelines support for the months before birth has not been worked out in any published South Carolina decision, so treat this as a strong argument rather than settled law.

We were married. Does this apply to us?

The current statute speaks of any "biological father," not only unmarried fathers. In a divorce or separation case, raise pregnancy costs with your lawyer alongside temporary support.

Talk to a Charleston child support attorney

This law is new, untested on appeal, and easy to overlook — which is exactly why it is worth a conversation before you file or sign anything. Klok Law represents parents in the Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester County family courts on paternity, child support and the claims that come with them. Call Klok Law at (843) 701-1695 to discuss your options, or visit our family law practice page.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For advice about your specific situation, contact Klok Law at (843) 701-1695.