Sherri Shepherd denied appeal in surrogacy case

PHILADELPHIA, March 1 (UPI) -- The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Sherri Shepherd's appeal in her surrogacy case Tuesday, declaring her the legal mother of an 18-month-old boy who was born to a surrogate.

The 48-year-old television personality, who was a co-host on The View from 2007 to 2014, had asked the court to review a 2015 court decision declaring her the legal mother of the child born to a surrogate after she and ex-husband Lamar Sally split in August 2014.

Shepherd alleged that Sally had defrauded her into having the child, which was conceived of Sally's sperm and a donor egg, just to get child support.

The child, named Lamar Sally, Jr., was born while Shepherd and Sally were in the middle of a divorce. Sally requested full custody of the child before it was born.

"After numerous court battles over the past two years, I am glad this case is finally over and that the ruling that Sherri is the legal mother to our son will stand. Now I can fully focus on raising my son," Sally said in a statement through his attorney.

Shepherd filed for divorce in May 2014. She was ruled Lamar Jr.'s legal mother in April 2015 and agreed to pay Sally $4,100 per month in child support.

"I am appealing the ruling that happened and [Sally] gets his settlement every month," Shepherd told People in August.

In November, a court ordered Shepherd to continue paying child support to Sally. Shepherd has yet to address the denial of her appeal, but did tweet, "Sometimes it's better to let go & not look back," on Monday.

The television personality already has an 11-year-old son with ex-husband Jeff Tarpley.