Sherri Shepherd Divorce Sparks Surrogate Baby Custody Fight; Did 'View' Co-Host Back Out?
Sherri Shepherd and her estranged husband Lamar Sally are yet to determine custody arrangements for their unborn surrogate baby.
The pair, who separated in May, are expecting a baby together via a surrogate, however, their separation has complicated matters and ultimately sparked a legal fight. The unborn baby was conceived using Sally's sperm but not "The View" co-host's egg.
"The date for [our surrogate] to deliver is the 31st," Sally told People.com. "[She's due] any time this week, actually. I am on baby watch."
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Shepherd, 47, who has a 9-year-old son, Jeffrey, with ex-husband Jeff Tarpley, reportedly wants nothing to do with the unborn baby because she believes it was conceived under fraudulent terms, TMZ.com reported.
The comedian thinks Sally, 43, defrauded her into signing the surrogate contract even though he allegedly wanted out of the marriage at the time, simply because he wanted child support.
Sally, who was married to Shepherd for more than two years, is said to be in the process of drafting legal documents to prevent the Christian mother-of-one from backing out of their agreement.
He reportedly wants custody of the unborn surrogate baby and has requested that Shepherd have "reasonable" visitation rights. In addition to wanting custody, Sally is asking for spousal support and the cost of his attorney fees.
"It's still unclear what's going on," Sally said of the custody arrangement.
Shepherd reportedly filed for divorce from Sally in the state of New Jersey where courts generally don't recognize surrogate agreements. Sally filed for divorce in California, where courts are said to be more open to these situations.
Earlier this month Shepherd won a legal victory against Tarpley, who she divorced back in 2009. In April he filed an emergency temporary physical custody request for Jeffrey however a judge denied this.
Shepherd and Tarpley split back in 2010 after spending nine years together.
