When I first saw this headline, I figured it was an April Fool’s Day story that I missed from a couple of weeks ago or a story on the Onion. Proving though that truth is stranger than fiction, it does look as if Prince Frederic von Anhalt is serious about creating an heir having a child with Zsa Zsa. However, I simply cannot imagine any legitimate surrogacy or egg donor agency (let alone Dr. Mark Surrey and his partners) working with this couple for a variety of reasons. Then again, I never would have thought any reputable physician would go into Frankenstein territory and create an OctoMom either.

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband wants his 94-year-old wife to become a mother again using an egg donor, artificial insemination and a surrogate mother, Prince Frederic von Anhalt told CNN Thursday. “I’ve gone through the initial steps of donor matching and blood work and next week the donation process will begin,” von Anhalt said.

Gabor’s only child, Francesca Hilton, described herself as shocked when told of the plan Thursday. “That’s just weird,” Hilton said. Von Anhalt, 67, said he is working with Dr. Mark Surry of the Southern California Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills. CNN calls to the center have not been returned.

Gabor has suffered major health problems in the last year, including hip replacement surgery and a leg amputation. She has been unable to walk since a 2002 car accident. “I’m a retired guy,” von Anhalt said. “I can take care of it.” Gabor talked about adding a new baby to the family when they got married 25 years ago, and she brought the topic up again in recent months, he said. One reason is their desire to have someone carry on the famous Gabor name. None of her two sisters left an heir and her only child does not use the Gabor name, von Anhalt said.

Francesca Hilton, 64, is Gabor’s only child, the product of her second marriage to hotel magnate Conrad Hilton. She told CNN that her full name is Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton.

The process, which includes finding an egg donor and a surrogate mother to give birth to the baby, will cost about $100,000, von Anhalt estimated. The prince, who acquired his royal title when he was adopted as an adult by a German woman, is Gabor’s ninth husband. He has complained in recent months about financial burdens caused by his wife’s hospitalizations. While he put their Bel Air, California mansion up for sale earlier this year, he said he is not actively marketing it. “In life you need something to live for,” he said. “If my wife passes away before me, I have nothing to live for.”

Then there is this quote from the good “Prince”:

“It was always my wife’s dream for us to have a child,” he said. “Even though we won’t be using any of her eggs, she would be thrilled to know I’m going through with this.”

“Would be”? Is Zsa Zsa non compos mentis or has she already passed on? Hopefully an adult will step in and the world will be spared from having to witness this train wreck. If I was a betting man, I would expect a statement from Dr. Surrey’s office that they are not participating in this shameful spectacle.