It’s no secret that Sherri Shepherd’s role as a mom has had its fair share of twists and turns. From raising her oldest son Jeffrey as a single mom following her divorce from his father in 2010 to her unique custody battle over her youngest son, who she shares no genetic connection with, motherhood wasn’t always an easy road for her.
And while Shepherd doesn’t often talk about the 6-year-old son she shares with her second ex-husband, the talk show host is opening up about raising her now 17-year-old son Jeffrey as a single mother. Earlier this year, Shepherd announced that she would be hosting a self-named daytime talk show and in an interview with People, she admitted her goal was to make it a family affair.
Sherri Shepherd Admits Her Role as a Mom Makes Her Very Insecure
“I was like, ‘Can my son get a job at the show?’ That’s the first thing I thought,” she says. “Now this boy is going to be working and contributing to my household.”
And while hosting a daytime gig as a single mom won’t be easy, Shepherd told People it will allow her more time with her son. “Doing a daytime talk show is such a great thing for me because we do it and I’m off by a certain time,” she says. “Now I still gotta do my research and all of that, but I still can be home.”
Shepherd just hopes her son is also looking forward to the extra mother-son time they will be getting in the future. While talking to People, she admitted that Jeffrey has been dreaming about his independence since he started high school.
“I don’t know if he really will want me at his extracurricular activities,” she joked. “He is trying to find his independence as a young man and I support that.”
The host admits that she often wonders where the time when now that her son is nearly an adult himself, but admits she is very proud of the man Jeffrey is becoming. “He’s got a very dry sense of humor, he’s funny as all get up and he’s a compassionate person,” she told People. “[With] boys it’s raising them to be respectful and to be compassionate. Those are the qualities that I want.”
And as the mother-son duo prepares for Mother’s Day, she says they will celebrate by having breakfast at home and spending the day on the beach. “That’s my favorite place and it’s just gonna be Jeffrey and me.”
Some of you may remember the nasty custody battle Shepherd had with her second husband over the son they agreed to have. However, because the son was conceived via a donor egg and carried to term via a surrogate, Shepherd has no genetic connection to the boy.
In a 2017 interview, Shepherd admitted that she financially supports the boy, but it does not appear Shepherd is his mom in any other way. It seems as though that chapter in Shepherd’s life is closed for good.
Nonetheless, Sherri tells People that being a mom to Jeffrey is one of her “biggest accomplishments” in life. Even if motherhood is also her “biggest insecurity because I always feel like I’m doing it wrong.”
“I’m hoping that my son will see that I am doing what I love and then he will pursue his passion because he sees that his mom is doing it. And I try not to take on that guilt,” she admits.