Sherri Shepherd Refuses to Pay Child Support for Unborn Child
Comedienne and TV personality Sherri Shepherd wishes to be completely unassociated with her unborn surrogate baby, TMZ reports, believing that her estranged husband defrauded her into even having the child so that she would have to pay him child support.
Shepherd and her husband, Lamar Sally, each separately filed for divorce in May, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
Initially, the divorce dealt mainly with the custody of their 9-year old son, Jeffrey, who is the child of her first marriage with Jeff Tarpley. Tarpley is accusing Shepherd of being negligent, saying that he should have full custody of their special needs son.
However, the divorce with Lamar now has Shepherd facing a second custody battle, but this one coming from the opposite angle.
Where Shepherd wishes to have custody of her son, Jeffrey, she refuses to be associated to her unborn surrogate child in any way.
Lamar, she claims, defrauded her into having the child in the first place, getting her to sign the contract for the surrogate birth fully knowing that he was going to divorce her. She claims that his entire plane was to receive massive child support payments from the comedienne.
According to Lamar’s sources, Shepherd tried to get pregnant in vitro, but after that didn’t work, she became high involved with surrogacy.
Yet Shepherd claims otherwise, saying that the unborn child has none of her genes, since the baby was conceived using Lamar’s sperm but not her egg.
The separate filing may also work in Shepherd’s favor. Shepherd filed for divorce in New Jersey, whereas Lamar filed in California. New Jersey courts generally do not recognize surrogacy agreements, giving Shepherd a strong advantage in the case. California courts, however, do recognize surrogacy agreements, making the case that much more complicated.
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