Grandmother Who Welcomed 15 Children Now Faces Felony Charges Over Secret Surrogacy
In early 2010, MaryBeth Lewis and her husband, Bob Lewis, briefly made local headlines in Elma, N.Y., after welcoming their eighth child — another girl, joining her seven older sisters.
“That first child was the biggest change. After that they kind of fell into place,” MaryBeth told The East Aurora Advertiser at the time, joking, “You’re fixing food for one, you can fix food for another.”
Back then, she said she was done expanding her family: “I have my hands full with these munchkins.”
But the family continued to grow far beyond that. As detailed in a New York Times profile, MaryBeth’s journey to motherhood ultimately led to the felony charges she now faces, connected to twins she considers her 14th and 15th children.
Those twins, a boy and a girl, were born using donor embryos and carried by a surrogate whom MaryBeth, now 68, hired.
A nurse by profession, MaryBeth and Bob, a retired FedEx pilot, turned to in vitro fertilization after their first five children. For each subsequent pregnancy, they used a mix of their own embryos and donor eggs or sperm, according to the Times, with MaryBeth carrying the pregnancies herself.
After the eighth girl’s birth in 2010, MaryBeth delivered twin boys in 2012. In 2016, at age 59, she gave birth to another set of twins, her 11th and 12th children. She welcomed her 13th child at 62.
“My children were my love, my blessings,” she told the Times.
The most recent pregnancy, however, was different. It was the first time they used both donor embryos and a surrogate — and it is this 2023 surrogacy that lies at the center of the criminal case. According to the Times, MaryBeth “tricked” her IVF clinic, her husband and the judge presiding over their case in Steuben County.
MaryBeth forged Bob’s signature on the surrogacy agreement, apparently violating state law, which requires the consent of both intended parents.
She says he initially supported the plan — a claim he disputes — but later told her he did not want more than 13 children. MaryBeth proceeded anyway, saying she could not bring herself to destroy the remaining embryos.
The procedure succeeded, and the surrogate became pregnant. MaryBeth then concealed the pregnancy from her husband for months, the Times reported.
At a Zoom court hearing in September 2023 to obtain a parentage order, MaryBeth also allegedly impersonated Bob. The Times reported: “She logged on with a separate account for Bob and kept the camera turned off. When the judge addressed him, MaryBeth says she grunted in assent.”
A few days later, Bob discovered the surrogacy when he saw the parentage order arrive in the mail. Furious, he contacted the attorney MaryBeth had hired, who then reached out to the judge, according to the Times.
What followed was the start of a lengthy and emotionally charged legal battle in family and criminal court, stretching over two years and costing the family dearly, the Times reported.
MaryBeth has admitted, “I did not feel good with what I did,” but has pushed back against the criminal charges and the challenge to her custody.
In 2023, she was indicted on multiple counts, including forgery in the second degree, criminal impersonation in the first degree, perjury in the second degree and, most seriously, attempted kidnapping in the second degree.
County officials also sought to block MaryBeth and Bob from gaining custody of the twins born via surrogate. The children have instead been placed with foster parents.
“We can’t just have crimes committed with relation to the creation of life and then have them get exactly what they wanted under that criminal conduct,” an attorney for the county’s Department of Social Services argued in court, according to the Times.
The Times reported that MaryBeth turned down two plea deals so she could continue fighting for custody — a battle her husband now supports, as does the surrogate who carried the twins.
While some of her older children have struggled with her decision to keep having kids, they have, for the most part, rallied around her, according to the Times.
“She’s not perfect, but none of us are,” one daughter said. “She really, truly is a wonderful mom and human being.”
MaryBeth spoke extensively with the paper about her enduring desire to mother children, her handling of the surrogacy, and her belief that she is being unfairly targeted by the legal system.
“It’s just terrible what they have done to myself, Bob and our kids,” she said after an October hearing on custody.
The case remains unresolved. A new judge has ruled that the Lewises are the legal parents of the twins, but the children’s foster parents are appealing that decision, the Times reported.
“We sincerely hope your reporting will champion justice, uphold integrity and advocate for the protection of two very precious children,” the foster father wrote, according to the Times.
Lawyers on all sides — even while sharply disagreeing about MaryBeth’s actions and her suitability as a parent — have expressed astonishment at how unusual the case is.
“We looked at it first and said, ‘Is this for real?’ It is such an off-the-wall collection of allegations,” Steuben County District Attorney Brooks T. Baker told the Times.
MaryBeth’s attorneys shared a similar reaction. “I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was one of those jaw-on-the-desk things,” said attorney Sarah E. Wesley. (MaryBeth’s attorneys did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment; the district attorney was not available.)
The twins at the heart of the dispute have been kept largely out of the public eye. If MaryBeth ultimately wins custody, she plans to change their names.
Their foster mother told the Times that they enjoy bedtime stories like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and will often curl up to listen before going to sleep.
They turned 2 earlier this month.
