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.