Since 2006, the California-based medical tourism company had helped Americans with surrogacy and other medical practices in India. But when the country enacted regulations in recent years that restricted gay couples, single parents and those married for less than two years from pursuing surrogacy there, Planet Hospital turned its focus to Mexico, specifically Tabasco, the single Mexican state that doesn’t regulate against surrogacy. As long as the baby is born here, just a day’s trip from Cancun, all surrogacy contracts are enforceable, and the intended parents – regardless of their sexual orientation – are recognized as the rightful parents.
Having someone else carry a baby to term often exceeds $100,000 in America, but in Mexico, the couple expected to pay about $45,000 in total. And though there are other popular international hotspots where surrogacy is similarly cheap, going to Mexico meant no visa hassle, no long flights and no time differences.
Jonah Winn-Lenetsky and Chris Pommier are just one of more than 40 couples who say they were victims of Planet Hospital, which is now under federal investigation, accused of bilking their clients of nearly $1 million in total and leaving them without the one thing they were looking for: a baby.
Read the full, original story: Desperate for a baby: Scammed in global surrogacy’s newest frontier
