A US fertility lawyer has pleaded guilty to participating in what prosecutors have called a 'baby-selling ring'.
Theresa Erickson, along with two other women, Hilary Neiman and Carla Chambers, allegedly recruited American women to travel to the Ukraine so they could be implanted with embryos made from donor sperm and eggs.
Once the surrogate had reached the second trimester, the defendants would then 'shop' the babies by falsely telling prospective adoptive parents that those who had intended to adopt the baby had backed out of the scheme, said Assistant US Attorney Jason Forge.
When a new couple had been found to adopt the future child, they were asked to pay over $100,000 in fees, while the surrogates were paid between $38,000 and $45,000. It is thought Erickson profited by at least $70,000 whilst also receiving over $20,000 in state insurance to subsidise medical costs for the babies' delivery.
Erickson is also accused of breaking state law by falsely declaring to the San Diego Superior Court that the future baby was part of an agreement made between the surrogate and the adoptive couple prior to pregnancy.
The scheme has highlighted the need for greater protection for adoptive parents, children and surrogate mothers. 'I would hope that the case enlightens legislators in terms of the vulnerability of the parents who want children and the need for additional protection for them and the carriers and the babies', Mr Forge said.
'[California] has become the capital of reproductive malpractice', explains Glenn McGee, editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Bioethics. It is thought this is partly due to the State's flourishing surrogacy market, globally attracting people who are looking to adopt through surrogacy pregnancies.
'Surrogacy is hard to regulate and hard to do responsibly if there are market pressures and if there are exploitive and predatory legal practices', McGee said.
Erickson, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, has been ordered to pay each of the 12 couples $100,000 in compensation and up to $25,000 in government fines. The three women each face up to five years in prison when they will be sentenced this October.
The adoptive parents will not lose their parental rights as they were unaware of any laws being broken.
Sources and References
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Babies 'sold for $150,000' in California
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Surrogacy Scandal Raises Question About Regulation
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Baby-Selling Enterprise Busted, Three Plead Guilty
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Women lawyers 'ran baby-selling ring which charged couples more than $100,000 to adopt children'
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San Diego attorney pleads guilty in 'baby-selling ring'
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