A 62-year-old mother of 13 children is facing allegations of orchestrating a deceptive plan to expand her family without her husband’s knowledge. MaryBeth Lewis is confronting 30 criminal charges for purportedly falsifying her husband Bob Lewis’ signature and posing as him during a virtual court session to secretly pursue two more children through surrogacy. While maintaining her innocence, MaryBeth has acknowledged the deception in a recent interview, expressing frustration at the legal consequences.
Initially welcoming five daughters, who are now in their 30s, MaryBeth later gave birth to twin girls before turning 50. Subsequently, she had another daughter with Bob three years later and twin boys in 2012, resulting in a total of 10 children by the age of 55. As their personal embryos were depleted, the couple resorted to acquiring donor sperm and eggs to generate a new set. Mail Online reported that MaryBeth underwent IVF with the donor embryos, leading to the birth of their 11th and 12th children when she was 59. Later, at 62, she gave birth to their youngest child through IVF, despite medical advice warning of the risks of another pregnancy.
MaryBeth’s alleged scheme began when she aimed to further expand their family by orchestrating a complex surrogacy fraud. She confessed to the New York Times that she deceived an IVF clinic into impregnating a surrogate with embryos created using donor eggs and sperm. She purportedly impersonated her husband Bob during an online parentage order hearing, creating a separate Zoom account under his name and providing false information to the judge. Bob only discovered the scheme upon receiving the parentage order at their home, as other documents were mistakenly delivered elsewhere.
Upon learning of his wife’s actions, Bob reported her to the authorities, prompting an investigation into the family. Although Bob eventually agreed to the parentage order, a prolonged legal process ensued. The couple’s 14th and 15th children were born in November 2023, but due to the alleged fraud, the newborn twins were placed in foster care. Following court proceedings, the Lewises were declared the legal parents of the twins, but custody of the infants remains contested by their foster family.
MaryBeth’s history of blindsiding Bob includes a previous incident where she reportedly underwent secret embryo implantation to conceive their 13th child without his full knowledge. Despite the charges, MaryBeth maintains her innocence and is scheduled to appear in court on November 7.