Sherri Shepherd Reveals Why She Refuses To Be Involved In Surrogate Son’s Life
Sherri Shepherd and her estranged ex-husband Lamar Sally have finally resolved their heated divorce and custody battle. Since their surrogate son, Lamar Sally Jr., was born, Shepherd and Sally have been at odds about whether or not she should be obligated to care for the child.
The divorce proceedings reportedly began before the little boy, now 2, was even born. But, since Shepherd signed documents prior to the child’s birth, she’s been held legally responsible for him. However, that doesn’t mean she’ll be stepping into the role of motherhood. Shepherd has made it clear she won’t be involved in the child’s life.
Sherri Shepherd recently sat down for an interview with Dr. Oz, reports Page Six. During the interview, which aired on Friday, Feb. 3, Shepherd finally explained why she won’t be part of the child’s life but has no problem providing for him, financially.
“Even now, he never has to worry about anything as long as I’m working. He’s on my health insurance. He’s got a life insurance policy in case anything happens to me. He’ll be taken care of the way Jeffrey [her other son] is. I’ve just chosen to take myself out because I think it’s worse for a child with two parents not getting along.”
Sherri Shepherd’s latest explanation follows her rent Twitter rant about Sally. For those who don’t know, she took to Twitter to expose her ex-husband’s plot to extort money from her. For those who missed it, Shepherd shared a screenshot of his dating profile on BlackPeopleMeet.com. Despite his claims about working only 20 to 30 hours a week and his demands for a child support increase from the $4,100 a month he’d been receiving, he claimed to have a $100,000 annual income on his dating profile.
#BEWARE In court docs he says he only works 20-30 hours/wk. But his dating profile says $100k #Liar #WatchOut #Scam pic.twitter.com/qizUTzk4Ss
— Sherri Shepherd (@sherrieshepherd) January 25, 2017
Shepherd’s representative released a statement about the court ruling and the comedian/actress’ legal victory. “Just before the inauguration weekend, Shepherd had a huge victory in the California family court. Sally and his counsel were humiliated as the judge flat out denied his request and politely asked Sally to be seated in the audience, away from counsel table so he could properly dispose of the matter,” her rep shared in a statement to The Huffington Post.
Her representative also revealed the child support amount Shepherd is currently paying is actually more than the state of New Jersey requires.
“The California judge agreed with Shepherd’s counsel Terry Levich Ross, Esq. and determined that by Sally’s own agreement in two separate legal judgments, New Jersey has exclusive and ongoing jurisdiction over this child support issue and all matters must be dealt with only in that state. The amount of child support Shepherd is currently paying her ex-husband is more than New Jersey has required her to pay, so if Sally wanted to revisit the matter in a New Jersey court he would likely face having his payments reduced substantially.”
The income disclosure reportedly did not help his case, and the child support increase was ultimately denied. However, Shepherd didn’t stop there. She also revealed her first ex-husband, Jeffrey Tarpley, whom she divorced in 2010, and Sally had reportedly discussed legal strategies he’d previously used to get more money from the divorce settlement, reports E! News. So, of course, Shepherd wasted no time blasting him as well. “How many ex-husbands does it take to get money from a single mom. Two. #dumb and #dumber #getalife #getajob,” she tweeted.
Shortly after Shepherd’s representative released the statement, Lamar Sally took to Twitter with an indirect response.
At the end of all this foolishness this is why I do it. #gooddaddy #neverstop #victory pic.twitter.com/Z17udbHE9q
— Lamar Sal Sally (@SalfromtheD) January 25, 2017
Sherri Shepherd’s explanation about refusing to have a relationship with the child has sparked a heated debate on social media. While some fans agree with Shepherd, others feel she should still be part of the child’s life since she obligated herself due to the surrogacy.
Do you think Sherri Shepherd is wrong for refusing to have a relationship with the baby? Share your thoughts.
[Featured Image by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for SCAD]
