Conceiving Crime: They wanted to help couples, but became victims of an elaborate scam

The latest episode of Live Action’s podcast, “Conceiving Crime,” tells the story of Heather. She was already the mother of two children, and though she and her husband didn’t plan on having more children of their own, she loved being pregnant and decided she wanted to act as a surrogate for another couple who wanted a child.

After she was contacted by a couple from Texas, Heather moved forward with the plans to carry a baby for them. However, two embryo transfers did not result in pregnancy and the couple backed out of the surrogacy contract. But Heather wanted to try again, so she was happy to get a message through an online surrogacy forum.

“I was responding to anything and everything,” she said. “That’s how desperate I was.”

That message was from a woman who offered Heather the chance to travel internationally to be impregnated with an anonymous embryo. Heather was hesitant but became more comfortable with the idea when she learned that Kimberly, a mother of five, would be traveling to Ukraine with her to become a surrogate. 

Surrogacy Scam Exposed | Conceiving Crime Podcast

“I was super excited to go,” said Kimberly. Yet, her mother, a nurse, was less than eager for her daughter to embark on this journey. Any fears that Kimberly and Heather had, however, were put to rest once they were connected with a renowned California-based surrogacy attorney who had been a spokesperson on surrogacy and reproductive law. The women trusted that they were in good hands, were eager to help a couple on the list of waiting parents-to-be, and had the promise of $38,000 paychecks for their efforts. 

In the spring of 2010, the two women left for Ukraine. A few weeks later, back home in the U.S., both women learned they were pregnant and Kimberly was having twins. Heather wanted to work with the couple she had previously worked with, but after she offered them a reduced fee to sign the surrogacy agreement, things suddenly went very wrong. The women would soon discover that they were victims of an elaborate scam.

Listen to Conceiving Crime wherever you listen to podcasts or here.