Sherri Shepherd Is Legal Mom of Baby She's Never Seen

After latest court decision, she must still pay child support
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 2, 2016 10:44 AM CST
Sherri Shepherd Is Legal Mom of Baby She's Never Seen
In this Feb. 26, 2012 file photo, Sherri Shepherd and Lamar Sally arrive before the 84th Academy Awards in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)

Sherri Shepherd must still pay child support to her ex-husband for a one-and-a-half-year-old boy her lawyer says Shepherd has never met, after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear her case. An appeals court ruled in November that Shepherd is the legal mother of the child, named LJ, despite the fact that she has no genetic connection to him, People reports. Shepherd and her ex, Lamar Sally, had the baby—conceived using Sally's sperm and a donor egg—via a surrogate who delivered in August 2014, after the couple had separated. Sally is raising the boy.

Shepherd, 48, has said that she and Sally were already having marital problems when the baby was conceived, and she only agreed to the surrogacy because she was afraid Sally would leave her if she didn't. "I was scared to say, 'That's not going to work for me. I don't want that,'" she told People in August. But in November, Sally said Shepherd "lies" and added, "If she won't be there for LJ emotionally, I'll be parent enough for the both of us." He says he's filming a reality show about the surrogacy drama, Radar reports. Shepherd attempted to void the surrogacy contract as the couple was breaking up, the AP reports. She pays $4,100 per month in child support. (Click for more of Shepherd's thoughts on the battle.)

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