In 2014, former “The View” co-host Sherri Shepherd came under fire after reports surfaced showing she wanted “nothing to do” with her unborn child now that her marriage is ending. Shepherd and husband, Lamar Sally used IVF to conceive a child but is apparently uninterested in caring for the baby, who is being carried by a surrogate mother.
As LifeNews previously reported, Sally said in an interview that Shepherd has removed the newborn baby boy she had via surrogate from her health insurance. And, unbelievably, Shepherd even tried is trying to force the surrogate mother to pay child support.
In a report, the surrogate mother said, “I could not believe this is happening. When I decided to do this for them, I didn’t think ever that this could happen. I just don’t understand how she could do that and act like this baby is non-existent. It just blows my mind….I’m angry at Sherri because she never once contacted me to tell me what was happening. She would call and check up on me during the pregnancy in the beginning. At the 20 week appointment she seemed so excited.”
Thankfully, TMZ reports that a judge has ruled that Shepherd is officially the legal mother of the child.
Shepherd and her estranged husband, Lamar Sally, have been battling in court since the child’s birth in August and it’s been all about the moolah. Sherri claims she was tricked into having the child with Sally and therefore has no connection or responsibility to the child.
A Pennsylvania judge begged to differ, ruling her Hancock belongs on the birth cert. 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.”
We’re told Shepherd was a no-show at the hearing.The two still need to meet in front of a judge in L.A. to sort out the child support situation. He wants her to help take care of the child.
Unfortunately, this tragic situation demonstrates one of the many problems with IVF. If an egg donor changes her mind about the baby, then legal questions can arise about who will raise the child and if they will be held financially responsible after the child is born. The second problem with IVF is that unused or unwanted embryos are often discarded or destroyed. Unfortunately in 2011, a study in the journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine revealed that 19% of unused embryos are discarded and 3% are donated for scientific research.
Additionally, a technique called “selective reduction” is sometimes used after in vitro fertilization. This is because to increase success rates IVF practitioners often implant more than one embryo in the woman’s uterus in hopes that at least one will take. Then if more embryos than are desired implant, doctors “reduce” the pregnancy down to the desired number.
