ComplaintsforGift of Life Surrogacy Agency, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dr. ***** ******** ****** and his wife **** ****** has stolen over $125,000 of our fees. Gift of Life Surrogacy already went broke once and then the doctor’s wife re-opened. They transferred our only viable embryo into a surrogate whom had a history of endometriosis, adenomyosis and cysts. Her doctor that delivered 4 babies opined she needed a complete hysterectomy. We then lost our baby at 13 weeks. **** refused to talk to us and would NOT rematch. She was like “sorry you lost all your money.” Neither organization ever billed our surrogates “friendly insurance”. **** will blame it on God as she takes your money and runs. How can Dr. ****** and **** leave a VM saying she was fine then followed by her dr she needs a hysterectomy. We are pursuing legally. Run fast from these crooks. They need to be stopped! We will NOT stop until the TRUTH is heard. They are also lying to surrogates and putting their lives in danger for $$$$$. Sick.

  

  Business response

  04/26/2024

  Our firm operates as corporate legal counsel to Gift of Life Surrogacy, Inc. ("GOL"). This letter is written in response to a Complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau ("BBB") by ******* ******* (aka ******* ********) and we hereby provide the following information: 
  1. Ms. ******* is factually inaccurate as it relates to the characterization of the company. Gift of Life (GOL) is a surrogacy agency, in good standing and has never filed for bankruptcy or been "reinvented" as a new company. In fact, Ms. *******'s Complaint with the BBB is the only complaint we are aware of since GOL was incorporated and began doing business in the State of Ohio. 
  2. While we cannot specifically comment on the medical status of the gestational carrier, as that is private health information, we can say unequivocally that all gestational carriers go through rigorous, detailed physical and psychological screenings to ensure the best possible results, which is the birth of a healthy baby. This specific journey resulted in a pregnancy that ultimately ended in a miscarriage at 13 weeks, which naturally occurs in approximately 10-15% of all pregnancies. There is no clinical accuracy in the statements Ms. ******* made associating the loss with any prior health issue with her gestational carrier. 
  3. GOL completely fulfilled its contractual obligation to Ms. *******. While these situations are highly emotional and loss is never easy, this specific situation escalated to a point where Ms. ******* became aggressive, threatening and hostile towards not only GOL, but the gestational carrier who lost the pregnancy, the team of professionals that work on behalf of GOL, including the billing department, psychology team and nursing staff. It was only at that time that GOL terminated all communication with Ms. *******. 
  4. Ms. ******* has continued to spread defamatory claims about GOL on public forums. In fact, while searching for another agency/carrier, she became so difficult to work with that her name was informally placed, by them, on a "do not work with" list throughout the industry. 
  Better Business Bureau Serving Northwest Central Ohio and Southeast Michigan Attn: Ms. ******** ******** 
  April 24, 2024 
  Page -2- 
  5. In the Complaint, Ms. ******* alleges, among other things, that GOL has "stolen" over $125,000 of her fees and refers to GOL as "crooks". Neither of these statements are accurate. The $125,000 does represent the amount of money paid. However, Ms. ******* is not entitled to a refund as there is no guaranty of a sustained 
  pregnancy/birth. 
  6. Ms. *******'s claims that GOL did something clinically or ethically inappropriate are categorically false and defamatory. Additionally, her coercive attempts to demand money from GOL and specifically threatening to "report" GOL unless her demands are met are inconsistent with her contractual agreement and could be characterized as bullying. Although she alleges differently, all the care provided is consistent with and wholly within the applicable standard of care for such treatment. Unfortunately, the gestational carrier suffered a miscarriage, which is a known complication and risk of this 
  process. 
  7. Ms. *******'s attorney previously sent a demand letter to GOL as well. We responded to that demand on January 30, 2024. In that letter, we pointed out that the Agreement executed by her clearly states that "Gift of Life Surrogacy makes no warranty as to the ability of any Gestational Carrier to become pregnant, gestate, or deliver a Child." The Agreement goes on to state that, in the absence of gross negligence, "the Intended Parents (Ms. *******) agrees to hold Gift of Life Surrogacy harmless...." Ms. ******* is, understandably, emotionally stressed and distraught over this matter. However, she signed a binding Agreement that does not give her the recourse she seeks through the BBB or otherwise. 
  While GOL has empathy for Ms. *******'s loss, we object to the narrative she has created, the aggressive behavior she has exhibited towards GOL and the false statements she has made to the Better Business Bureau. 
  Accordingly, we respectfully request that the BBB dismiss Ms. *******'s Complaint and not allow it to affect the status/rating of GOL with the BBB. 
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The agency is acting for the parents & surrogacy. Cover ALL costs, transportation , medical bills etc. They are not covering $9,000 worth of medical bills. I was the surrogate they are trying to collect what my insurance didn't cover. The agency said she was to send the bills to them in a timely fashion & she did & they refused to pay. None of it. Every time I received a bill I forwarded it to the agency. The parents were told they were paid. They were not. My husband paid the $9,000 for me. I need a refund of the $9,000.

  

  Business response

  05/16/2022

  [BBB Transcription via Email]

  BBB ************ **** *** ************ ********
  
  ID ********
  
   
  
  The purpose of a surrogacy agency is to consult and facilitate a surrogacy journey for both intended parents and gestational carriers. Both gestational carriers and intended parents have case managers that assist in the steps and processes to alleviate the stress and overwhelm that could arise throughout this complex journey. Agencies act as a consulting and administrative firm and nothing outside of that scope.
  
   
  
  In all surrogacy cases, a gestational surrogacy agreement, commonly referred to as a GSA, is put in place to protect all parties - each party, with separate legal representation, reviews the agreement over a span of time to ensure they are not only understanding, but in agreement of everything in place on the GSA. A gestational surrogacy agreement is directly between the gestational carrier and the intended parents - no other parties. 
  
   
  
  In all surrogacy cases, a 3rd party escrow account and management team is put in place to handle and distribute all monies brought in by the intended parents and paid out to the gestational carrier. In this case, the escrow management provider is ********* Escrow Services.
  
   
  
  In all cases and agreements, it is the sole responsibility of the intended parents signing into the agreement to be financially responsible for all medical bills owed throughout the duration of the GSA. Intended parents sign the agreement understanding that any monies owed to the gestational carrier or to medical facilities related to the pregnancy must be paid by them directly or to the gestational carrier in form of reimbursement for payments made for the (including but not limited to) pregnancy, prenatal care and delivery of the baby being born via gestational surrogacy to the intended parents on behalf of the carrier through 3rd party reproduction. 
  
   
  
  When the timeline of a contract stipulates a specific escrow closer time, this does not alleviate the intended parents from their financial responsibility owed to either the gestational carrier or any medical facility involved with the pregnancy / surrogacy journey. In this specific case, the gestational carrier received medical bills past the time the escrow account was closed due to the pandemic and delayed billing and processing times.
  
   
  
  In no shape or form is the surrogacy agency responsible for medical bills. When the dispute was brought to the agency's attention, attempts were made on behalf of both parties to help make the other party aware of the dispute and to understand with great detail the numbers and issue at hand to help settle the dispute. While this is not the responsibility of the agency, with courtesy it was attempted to assist without having to take further action. In this specific case, the baby was born in November of 2021 and due to severe delays with hospital billing and insurance processing (outside of anyone's control) final bills are still not clear. Though they may be now, we (the agency) cannot continue to further assist in the matter as the parties are in disagreement on the funds being owed.
  
   
  
  Gift of Life Surrogacy Agency has advised numerous times for the gestational carrier and intended parents to follow the terms in the GSA for dispute resolution. Per the terms of the agreement:
  
   
  
  DISPUTE RESOLUTION, page 37, section 27. Per your GSA, counseling and mediation is to be the initial step if parties are not able to come to an agreement. The contract requires that if there is a dispute that the parties engage in counseling, then mediation before any legal action is initiated. Filing something before these attempts are made at resolution may be deemed a breach of the contract as well. Should dispute resolution not conclude the matter, please refer to your GSA for BREACH GSA, page 30, section 17.
  
   
  
  Gift of Life Surrogacy Agency owes no funds to either party and cannot continue to further assist in the matter beyond what has already been attempted. 
  
  
  --
  ***** ***********
  Director of GC Recruiting & Matching
  
  ***************************
  
  (p)************
  (f)************
  
  **** ****** ****** 
  ******** ***, ***** *
  ********, ** *****
  *********************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩