Bet on baby’s birth, contribute to fighting MS

Feeling lucky? Or just want to help out a local Multiple Sclerosis chapter?

Then place your bets on the due date of an Ahwatukee Foothills baby's birth.

Resident and Internet Web site owner Scott Hardy introduced his site, www.TopClassActions.com, and along with it a contest to see who can guess the date and time his baby will be born.

For $5, anyone can log onto the site and place their bet on a date and 15-minute time frame as to when Hardy's wife, Barbara, will have their first child.

With an estimated due date of Sept. 4, Hardy said the betting window will remain open until the child is born. After collecting the proceeds, he will donate 51 percent to the Arizona Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the winner will receive the remaining 49 percent of the pool.

Hardy said he thought of the idea when his wife's uncle stated he would "put five bucks" on the day after the due date.

"My response was, ‘You want to bet on that?'" Hardy said. "I thought afterwards that (having this contest) would be something fun to do."

Hardy said he decided to support the local MS chapter because his wife's brother has the condition.

"I've seen the devastating effects of (MS) and I really wanted this (contest) to do something positive overall," Hardy said. "I got their (Arizona MS Chapter) blessing."

Hardy said some people have been asking him what his wife thinks about having financial wagers placed on the life growing inside of her.

"She's OK with it actually," Hardy said. "She's not against it, that's the important part."

Of his Web site, Hardy said it is a place where people can go to look up class action lawsuits against corporations. He said he wanted it to be a place where lawyers and consumers can unite under the same umbrella: lawyers notify Hardy of impending lawsuits and visitors can look at the conditions free of charge.

"The thing to remember is that it is the responsibility of the lawyers to notify as many people as possible," he said. "The average person who visits the site is never charged a penny."

Visitors to the site can stay updated on the overall progress of the Hardy's baby and can read all the rules as to the betting procedure. If the baby is not born before, the Hardy's will induce labor on the 11th, capping the betting at that time.