A wealthy nurse who gave birth to her 13th child at age 62 is accused of orchestrating an elaborate surrogacy fraud to have two more children at 65. MaryBeth Lewis, now 68, faces 30 criminal charges for allegedly forging her husband Bob's signature and impersonating him during a Zoom court hearing.
Lewis admitted to the deception in an interview with the New York Times, saying, 'This is bullcrap for what I did to get all these fricking felonies.' She described how she duped her husband, a retired FedEx pilot, and tricked an IVF clinic into implanting a surrogate with embryos created using donor eggs and sperm.
During an online parentage order hearing, Lewis created a separate Zoom account under her husband's name, kept the camera off, and claimed he was travelling in Japan. She only 'grunted' in assent when asked to confirm his identity. Bob discovered the fraud when the parentage order arrived at their home; other mail had been sent to a post office box.
Bob initially reported his wife to authorities, prompting the court to rescind the order and launch an investigation. He later agreed to a parentage order, but the legal process has been lengthy. Lewis had previously given birth to their youngest child at 62 via IVF, using an embryo from the same batch, after secretly having it implanted.
The couple had run out of their own embryos and purchased donor sperm and eggs. Lewis agreed to pay the surrogate $49,000, plus bonuses for twins, breast milk, and a caesarean section. Despite Bob's initial fury, he realised reporting her led to exorbitant legal fees. The couple's retirement fund holds over $2 million.
