Sherri Shepherd and Hubby Lamar Sally Separate

[sluce]

^ She was a "celebrity" and had the money. That's my guess anyway. I also wonder what kind of help (legal or otherwise) they offer the surrogate if something goes awry like this. Sherri contracted to be named the mother, but obviously the hospital didn't care about that contract when the time came to fill out the birth certificate. And the State doesn't care when the come knocking to collect child support. So what protection does the contract give her?

The hospital has no role here at all. They simply have people fill out the paperwork. The mother is automatically named as the one who gives birth. Then each state has their own laws in place to govern the procedure for issuing an amended certificate of live birth. Some required the new mom to go through a legal adoption procedure which involves a voluntary termination of the birth mother's rights. Other allow that process to court approved prior to the birth and then a simple form is submitted to issue an amended certificate.

[Trixie]

^ Ok, thanks. What I was trying to get at is, it appears the contract does nothing to protect the surrogate if the intended mother backs out, because that piece of paper means nothing to the hospital, state welfare system etc. Until/unless she can get that birth certificate amended, she's the legal mother, even though she was basically just the paid incubator for someone else's embryo. And who foots the bill for her legal expenses? What responsibility does the agency take?

[sluce]

Depends on the contract. The courts should step in and force Sherri to honor the contract she signed, and name her as the legal mother, removing all responsibility from the surrogate. Then Sherri can sign over custody to her husband and pay him support. The contract basically does cover this, and protects the birthmother, but the courts must uphold the contract.

[Trixie]

Yes, they should and I hope that's what happens. And I also hope Sherri is ordered to pay everyone's legal fees too.

It's just irritating to me that she's trying to use this "fraud" excuse--that her husband basically had this baby for the sole purpose of getting money and child support from her. Even if that's true, it shouldn't matter. How many men would get out of paying child support if the old "she tricked me and got pregnant" defense actually worked? Nope, you make a baby, you're responsible for it, plain and simple.

[sputnik]

i agree it's absolutely shitty that the poor surrogate has any responsibility in this and is named as a legal parent.

[MohandasKGanja]

It kind of reminds me of people who are sperm donors for couples but are named as a financially liable parent after the adoptive parents get in financial trouble. (But if I remember correctly, it's also because they didn't do the insemination through an MD.)

[sluce]

A sperm donor, who follows the proper process, will never be named as a father or liable for support. The surrogacy laws must be updated to protect the surrogate/gestational carriers too.

[MsDark]

So this chick who carried the baby didn't even provide the egg, just carried and birthed? And now she's getting the financial screws put to her when she was actually the one they sought out? The one who did a great thing for them? Wow.

That's unfair. Sherri is a gigantic POS.

[witchcurlgirl]

Judge Rules That Sherri Shepherd Is Legal Mother Of Child By Surrogate

Sherri Shepherd has been ordered to take responsibility for a child she and her (soon-to-be) ex-husband had via surrogate. While Shepherd claims that she was “tricked” into having the child by her ex, a judge has ruled that her name must replace the surrogate’s on the birth certificate.

Shepherd, who TMZ reports was not at the ruling, has been fighting Lamar Sally over parenthood of the now seven-month-old baby boy that was conceived with Sally’s sperm and a surrogate’s eggs. Until this time, the surrogate has had her name listed on the certificate, but People reports that she hasn’t been happy with this, wanting to put it all behind her. In January, it was reported that the surrogate was even being sought after for child support.

According to Sally, Shepherd had a change of heart about the pregnancy months into it and refuses to have anything to do with the child, allegedly accusing Sally of forcing her into responsibility in order to take money from her.

Lamar says he’s ecstatic with the ruling telling TMZ, “I want her to go on television and apologize the same way that she went on there and accused me of being a gold digger and tricking her into having a baby.”

Regardless of the ruling, the clear loser right now is the baby who’s already living in an adverse environment. Unless Shepherd and Sally make some kind of deal to make it work, it feels like having Shepherd, who’s clearly said she doesn’t want anything to do with the child, in his life might actually make it harder.

The company that Sally and Shepherd used, Reproductive Possibilities, released a statement last month stating that this is the first time a situation like this has arisen.


Image via Getty

[greysfang]

I don't necessarily agree with that ruling and there doesn't seem to be all that much precedent, although i don't necessarily disagree with it either. I wonder if She-bitch will appeal.

[MohandasKGanja]

I have mixed emotions about this, too, because another innocent child is now going to grow up being afraid of falling off the edge of the Earth.....

[sluce]

I'm ok with the ruling. She signed a surrogacy contract, using a donor egg, which caused the birth of this child. Like any other parent, we can choose no longer fill the role of parent but we cannot discard the responsibility of providing for the child. They really can't force her to visit, but they can force her to pay support.

They used a company in NJ, but the surrogacy contract was signed in PA.

[Islandgirl]

She's such a POS.
That poor baby. ��

[llamamama]

I'm ok with the ruling. She signed a surrogacy contract, using a donor egg, which caused the birth of this child. Like any other parent, we can choose no longer fill the role of parent but we cannot discard the responsibility of providing for the child. They really can't force her to visit, but they can force her to pay support.

They used a company in NJ, but the surrogacy contract was signed in PA.

I agree. It was her money that paid for the surrogate. If she had decided to carry the donor embryo herself, nobody would have questioned that she were responsible for it. The fact that she hired a surrogate to carry the child does not change the fact that it was her decision to bring the child into the world. Her regretting that decision does not remove her responsibility for the child.

[BITTER]

I don't necessarily agree with that ruling and there doesn't seem to be all that much precedent, although i don't necessarily disagree with it either. I wonder if She-bitch will appeal.

She can always push the baby carriage over the side of the earth, since she thinks it's flat anyway... .