A woman, aged 62 and a mother of 13, is facing allegations of orchestrating a deceptive plan to expand her family without her husband’s knowledge. MaryBeth Lewis is accused of committing 30 offenses by allegedly falsifying her husband Bob Lewis’ signature and pretending to be him during a virtual court session in an effort to clandestinely have two more children through surrogacy. While she has pleaded not guilty to the charges, she has confessed to the deception in a recent interview, expressing frustration at the legal consequences.
MaryBeth, a nurse at 68, initially had five daughters, who are now in their thirties, followed by twin daughters just before turning 50. Subsequently, she had another daughter with Bob three years later, and twin sons in 2012, bringing their total to 10 children by the time she reached 55. With no remaining embryos of their own, the couple opted to utilize donor sperm and eggs to generate a new set of embryos for conception, resulting in the arrival of their 11th and 12th children at MaryBeth’s age of 59. The couple’s youngest child was born via IVF when MaryBeth was 62, despite medical advice warning of potential risks associated with another pregnancy.
MaryBeth’s deceit began when she sought to have more children by ingeniously manipulating a surrogacy scheme. She admitted to tricking an IVF clinic into implanting a surrogate with embryos created using donor eggs and sperm without her husband’s consent. She further deceived her husband by impersonating him during an online parentage order hearing, creating a separate Zoom account under his name and participating in the hearing on his behalf, citing his absence due to travel. Subsequently, she engaged a surrogate to carry the two children, reportedly compensating them a significant sum. Bob only became aware of the scheme when legal documents arrived at their home, as other communications regarding the surrogacy had been misdirected to a post office.
Shocked by his wife’s actions, Bob reported her to the authorities, prompting an investigation into the family. Although Bob eventually agreed to be part of the parentage order, the legal process has been prolonged and is still ongoing. The couple’s 14th and 15th children were born in November 2023, but due to the alleged fraud, the twins were placed in foster care with another family.
Following court proceedings, the Lewises were officially recognized as the legal guardians of the twins on October 20. However, they have yet to regain custody of their son and daughter, as the current foster family is reportedly contesting the transfer of custody.
This incident of surrogacy deception is not the first instance where MaryBeth has been accused of blindsiding her husband. During the conception of their 13th child through IVF, she purportedly underwent the implantation of an embryo from the same batch as the surrogate’s babies without Bob’s knowledge. MaryBeth has denied all charges and is scheduled to appear in court on November 7.
