*Sherri Shepherd and Lamar Sally will soon find out who’ll be ruled the official mother of their baby boy born to a surrogate last August, reports Radar Online.
A Pennsylvania judge continued a custody hearing Wednesday to determine the baby’s legal mother (Shepherd, the surrogate or the egg donor).
Though Shepherd has yet to testify, ex husband Sally has revealed that the former host of “The View” does not wish to be considered the now 7-month-old’s mother. Sally claims Shepherd had changed her mind after the surrogate was heavily pregnant, and following the couple’s split in 2014, no longer wanted to be associated with the child.
While the surrogate, Jessica Bartholomew, is considered the child’s mother on his birth certificate, she is equally unenthused.
“I’m just frustrated that I’m the mother of the baby, but hopefully when we come back again all that will change,” she told People Magazine after leaving court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile Reproductive Possibilities, who Sally and Shepherd used to arrange the process in the first place, have been attending court as well, concerned that their reputable company will be tainted after the ordeal.
“Our office has done 200 of these [a year] and this is the first time we’ve had this happen,” attorney Melissa B. Brisman, representing the company, said. “It’s usually the intended parents who are afraid that the carrier may want to keep the baby.”
“It’s an unusual circumstance where you have someone who came into a relationship and then doesn’t want the baby,” she continued.
“It’s heartbreaking, actually, very heartbreaking,” Sally, who testified at the hearing on Wednesday, shared.
Sally currently has custody of the baby.