Controversial Bravo Star Reveals Plans to Have Second Child
Former Flipping Out star Jeff Lewis said he plans to have a second child and has already marched with a new surrogate. Lewis, 51, is also father to daughter Monroe Christine, 4, whom he shares with ex-partner Gage Edward. In 2018, Edward and Lewis made headlines when the surrogate who carried Monroe sued them for allegedly not getting her permission to film her labor and delivery for Lewis' Bravo show.
During Thursday's episode of Jeff Lewis Live, the interior decorator said he is in the "contract phase" with the new surrogate, reports PEOPLE. He said he had "serious" conversations with his co-host, Megan Weaver, about deciding which embryo for the surrogate to use. "I was like, 'This is what's happening. We could potentially do a transfer in December or January, that gives us a September or October baby, blah blah blah,'" Lewis told his listeners. "And then I said, 'I have two embryos: the boy or the girl.' We really were seriously talking about, 'What do I do? Do I put in the boy or the girl?'"
Weaver, who has three children herself, gave him "serious advice" about his plans. "She gave me some really good sound advice and I said, 'To be honest with you, Megan, I really want both of them,'" he recalled. His other co-host, Doug Budin, asked if he would do things differently this time around. "Yes, I have learned from my past mistakes," he said, adding that he is still "not allowed" to talk about things involved with his 2018 controversy.
In 2018, Alexandra Trent, the surrogate who carried Monroe, sued Lewis and Edward for unlawful recording, invasion of privacy and fraud. She claimed her labor and delivery were filmed for Flipping Out without her permission. Trent's delivery was filmed in October 2016 and aired the following August. The episode included comments Lewis made that left Trent "deeply damaged," according to the court documents PEOPLE obtained in 2018. In March 2019, Trent dropped the lawsuit, which cannot be refiled since Trent originally filed it with prejudice.
Lewis and Edward also broke up in late January 2019 after almost 10 years together. This led to a custody battle that lasted over two years. They reached a joint custody agreement that went into effect in June.
"At the time, I was seeing a lot of him and Monroe, so it didn't feel like any sort of sacrifice," Lewis said in a July episode of Jeff Lewis Live. "But once it ended, as of June 1, it went to a strict 50/50. So now what's happening is, over the last eight weeks, I have really missed Monroe. I feel like a real sense of loss because I don't see her...I've always had her a majority of the time, so it's been a hard adjustment."