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Sherri Shepherd must pay child support after losing legal battle over her surrogate baby


Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
March 2, 2016
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Sherri Shepherd must continue to pay child support to her ex-husband Lamar Sally for a baby the couple had via a surrogate. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania's Supreme Court denied Sherri's request to review a ruling that mandated her name be on the child's birth certificate and that she should financially support the little boy.Sherri does not have a genetic connection to the child, who is named LJ, and her lawyers had been arguing that she should not have to pay $4,100 in monthly child support for the son she and Lamar agreed to have while they were still married, but who was born after their split.

sherri1 © Photo: Getty Images

Sherri Shepherd and Lamar Sally agreed to have a surrogate baby while they were still married

The former couple wed in 2011 and began to pursue surrogacy using an egg donor. In April 2014, they filed for separation – but by that point the surrogate was pregnant and a legal battle began over who would be financially responsible for the baby.In April last year, a court ruled in Lamar's favour – a decision that was upheld again at a court of appeals in November. "I'm glad it's finally over," Lamar told People after the appeals ruling. "I'm glad the judges saw through all the lies that she put out there, and the negative media attention. If she won't be there for LJ emotionally, I'll be parent enough for both of us."

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Following Tuesday's ruling, Lamar uploaded a sweet snapshot of LJ

In August, Sherri – who has never seen LJ – said she went through with the surrogacy despite her marital problems, because she feared losing her husband. "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," she said. "There are consequences to everything, but I was scared to say, 'That's not going to work for me. I don't want that.' "Following this week's ruling, Lamar took to Twitter to share a photograph of little LJ, along with the caption: "We doing good!"Sherri, who also has a ten-year-old son from her previous marriage to Jeff Tarpley, has not commented on the news.

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