Sherri Shepherd is in hot waters relative to the surrogacy issues plaguing her. The actress and her ex-husband Lamar Sally wanted to start their family. They decided to have a child through surrogacy, but their relationship did not work and the actress had a change of heart about the baby.
CBS News reported that the "The View" star fought to have the surrogacy contract voided. "She doesn't want to be part of his life. It's all good," Sally told the The Associated Press on Tuesday. "I'm going to be parent enough for the both of us."
Shepherd had paid over $100,000 and Sally another $5000 for a suburban surrogate to carry their child, who was conceived through a procedure that used his sperm and a donor egg. The couple opted for a donor egg "after doctors found that Shepherd's eggs were not viable - within a year of their 2011 wedding," per People.
The former couple, then living in New Jersey, attended the surrogate's medical appointment. However, when their marriage faltered on the second trimester of pregnancy, the "Top Five" star had a change of heart over the matter.
According to Salon, Shepherd's name stays on the one-year-old boy's birth certificate and the Supreme Court rules that she must continue to support the baby by providing $4,100 per month. "(Shepherd) does not dispute that she freely entered into the gestational carrier contract," the Supreme Court ruling stated per CBS News. "Baby S. would not have been born but for (her) actions and express agreement to be the child's legal mother."
The owner of the surrogate agency was pleased with the decision. "Surrogates don't want to feel that someone could want a baby and then just back out. The surrogate is not the mother," said Melissa B. Brisman, owner of the Reproductive Possibilities LLC in Montvale, N.J.
In a separate report from People, Shepherd's son from his previous marriage with Jeffrey Charles Tarpley was born 15 weeks premature. Two years later, the comedienne shared her experiences with motherhood and how having a child changed her in a positive way.
"It's funny how having a baby changes one's priorities. I work, but I don't stress and hustle like I use to. If I don't get that audition or book that job - I can walk into my house and hear my son laughing and see him crawling towards me to pick him up," she said. "Having a baby gives you a more compassionate heart. I seem to care more about the world around me now that I have a child who will be here, hopefully, longer than me."