The custody hearing concerning Zheng Shuang and ex-partner Zhang Heng’s two children has recently started in Denver, Colorado on 22 March.
As reported on Sohu, the trial, which was conducted through a live webcast, was attended by Zheng – who is currently staying in Denver for six months to settle the issue regarding the custody. Zheng revealed that she has not taken any new acting jobs and will only make the decision regarding her return to China depending on the arrangements concerning the kids.
During the trial, Zheng admitted that she has two children with Zhang Heng – Lucas, born in December 2019, and Luna, born in January 2020 – both through surrogacy. The decision to undergo surrogacy, said Zheng, was due to her health condition and not – like it was reported by tabloids – due to professional considerations.
Zheng revealed that her relationship with Zhang ended in September 2019, three months before their first child was born, after she found out that the latter had been cheating on her. She admitted that she had thought about stopping the surrogacy but made no decision about it.
She also revealed that following the exposure about the children, she decided to go to the US in February, and only got to meet Lucas and Luna the next month. Zheng said that she was very happy and could feel that the children were slowly accepting her.
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| Zheng Shuang and Zhang Heng broke up in September 2019 |
The actress then stressed that she has also hired a professional parenting coach to help her, seeing that she is a novice mother.
This, however, was dismissed by Zhang, who claimed that the actress was impatient with children – adding that the only reason Zheng agreed to have children with him was due to the fact that he was more patient with them.
Zhang also claimed that Zheng was mentally unstable and had reportedly shared about her mental health problems with him throughout their relationship, including her alleged depression and suicidal tendencies.
In one instance, said Zhang, he had to return from the UK after receiving a call from Zheng’s parents, who asked for him to take care of Zheng. He also mentioned that he had once asked the actress to see a doctor, but that Zheng disagreed due to her celebrity status.
Zhang admitted that he is concerned that giving custody of the children to Zheng Shuang would endanger their two children, stating, “I can’t send my children into the hands of people who abuse animals, because Zheng Shuang has done so with dogs.”
Following the first trial, the judge ordered Zheng Shuang to undergo a mental health examination.
Netizens who found out about the trial expressed mixed feelings about the whole issue, with some questioning Zhang for using Zheng’s mental health problems as a weapon to take away her children from her, especially since he was the one who started the whole issue by exposing the identity of Lucas and Luna’s mother in the first place.
The issue concerning Zheng Shuang’s surrogacy sparked back in January, when Zhang posted a photo of him with two kids, saying that he was unable to return to mainland China due to the pandemic and the fact that he has two children to care for. It was then revealed that the two children are his children with Zheng Shuang, which they conceived through surrogacy.
The scandal had since damaged Zheng’s reputation, with brands and productions alike decided to end their collaboration with the actress.
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| The photo that sparked the whole controversy |
(Photo Source: Sina)