Sherri Shepherd Opens Up About Surrogate Battle, Backlash & Custody Fears After Lamar Sally Embryo Ruling [Video]

As Sherri Shepherd opens up about her custody battle with Lamar Sally, her ex-husband, she also is getting more candid about how she felt about a recent ruling. That ruling made Sherri the official mother of a now-1-year-old child who was born using a surrogate, reported People.

Shepherd opened up about the fears she experienced in the midst of the struggle.

“My situation was a sense of, I didn’t state what I needed and what I wanted and what I didn’t want for being scared of somebody leaving the relationship,” said Sherri, who previously served as a co-host on The View.

“There are consequences to everything, but I was scared to say, ‘That’s not going to work for me. I don’t want that,’ ” added Shepherd.

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Sherri and Lamar wed in 2011. They then decided to investigate what was involved in utilizing a surrogate to get pregnant with a donor egg and sperm from Sally.

However, even before the baby was born, Shepherd and Lamar battled over which partner would take on the financial burden of having a child.

“I’m the type of person I feel like as long as you can get up, you have another chance,” reflected Sherri. “I’ve gone through stuff a nasty divorce, nasty custody battle but for me, I get up and I smile. I go through it and I make it through.”

As for the ruling that Shepherd is legally the mother of that child, Sherri is determined to fight it.

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“I am appealing the ruling that happened and [Lamar] gets his settlement every month,” said Shepherd. “He’s happy. There nothing I can do. It’s out of my hands. You move on and I have a son. I have to take care of him so everything is good.”

In addition to the disputed 1-year-old, Sherri is the mom to Jeffrey, who is 10. Her son’s father is her ex, Jeffrey Tarpley.

Lamar has been vocal about his views on the custody fight. However, Shepherd has sought to keep primarily out of any temptation to participate in a public battle, she noted.

“As long as the people who know me, know my heart and they know my love for my son and my character and integrity. That’s all I have to stand on. As long I can look at myself in the mirror and look up and go ‘Did I do what you told me to do’ I’m good.”

The divorce between Sally and Sherri also was drawn-out and vitriolic, reported The Grio.

Although Shepherd is shelling out $4,100 a month in child support, scheduled for a $500-increase on the child’s 13th birthday, Sherri can legally challenge it with a fraud allegation. Should she win that battle, she will no longer have to pay child support.

Moreover, Shepherd wants the stored embryos destroyed. If Lamar chooses to use those embryos with a surrogate, Sherri will have no financial obligations.

As the Inquisitr reported, Shepherd and Lamar split in 2014. At that point, they had been married for three years, and the surrogate was pregnant. Sally then sought complete physical and legal custody for Lamar Jr., born August, 2014.

Sherri has made her cause by charging that Lamar already was aware that the two would separate during the signing of the paperwork for the surrogate pregnancy. Therefore, claims Shepherd, he defrauded her. She can now continue to argue that case, and if she wins, she will be exempt from child support.

In addition, the current custody settlement gives Sherri rights to her Funny Mothers TV show, which is in development.

The debate has raised the profile of what it means to use a surrogate. An organization called Resolve: The National Infertility Association, is a non-profit that provides a nationwide network to help families who have infertility concerns.

The association notes that for the one in eight couples in the nation of childbearing age who receive diagnoses of infertility, surrogacy can provide a viable option. But Resolve also emphasizes the need to explore what it means, and how surrogacy can help to build a family.

[Photo by Noam Galai / Getty Images]