Should Surrogacy Babies Get Child Support During A Divorce In Texas?

Addressing Child Support During A Divorce In Texas 

Their marriage had been good for three years, and so celebrity couple Sherri Sheperd and Lamar Sally decided they would have a child together. The couple chose to have the child via a surrogate, signed a surrogacy contract, and had a child on July 28, 2014. However, this day of joy turned into a legacy of courtroom strife.

How Did A Surrogacy Turn Into A Courtroom Battle?

During the pregnancy, Sherri Sheperd—a former host on The View—had a falling out with Lamar Sally, and the couple got a divorce. The two battled it out for custody of their unborn child, and Sally was eventually awarded custody. This left Sheperd with a $4,100 a month child support payment, and she isn’t even biologically related to the child.

Should Surrogacy Babies Get Child Support?

Since Sheperd was not the egg donor in the surrogacy, but her surrogacy contract labeled her as the intended mother, she tried to void the contract in court and have her name removed from the baby’s birth certificate. This strategy didn’t work, and in April of last year, a Pennsylvania court ruled that Sheperd would be listed as the mother on the child’s birth certificate. An appeal to that decision just failed in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and now Sheperd will be required to pay child support and expenses incurred by the “embryo carrier.”

What Does This Have To Do With Texas Family Law?

Though this case happened in Pennsylvania, it is a good example of how Texas treats surrogacy. In our state, surrogacy contracts are recognized as legally binding by a law called HB 729. This law recognizes surrogacy contracts made between married heterosexual couples, and so the intended parents in such a pregnancy would be the parents of record on the child’s birth certificate.

So, if you had a child through surrogacy and then got a divorce, then that child—whether they are biologically related to you or not—would be treated as your child during a divorce negotiation. Knowing details like this can help you get the most balanced divorce settlement for you and your children, which makes having an experienced Texas divorce attorney important for your family.

Source: https://www.johnkgrubb.com/surrogacy-babies-get-child-support-during-houston-divorce