"At 35 weeks I lost the baby and my womb. I ended up losing 3 litres of blood and needed an emergency hysterectomy. This is what can happen." This was a UK surrogacy arrangement in a family and the woman thought she was helping. This woman now considers herself lucky to be alive.

In the language of the #surrogacy and #donorconception, this would be referred to as 'Natural Insemination' (also known as unprotected sex, if non-consensual, it's rape). Prosecutors in this case raise the question that the alleged criminal acts could constitute #humantrafficking and #sexualexploitation.

Returning to this from Argentina, after receiving some advice, we share further information on the 7 Examples, but with no identifying details: Example 1 - a couple planned to return home with a newborn but postponed their departure for fear of being caught at the border as no travel authorisation had been obtained from the surrogate mother. They planned to cross the border with the surrogate mother in case the police asked questions. Example 2 - a couple planned to return to their home with the baby but the surrogate mother’s travel authorisation had not even been requested. Example 3 - a couple arrived in Argentina to collect a baby and had not departed by their planned date. One of the commissioning fathers was reportedly on paternity leave, despite not being the child’s genetic or legally recognised father and he faced a potential employment issue if he did not return to work. Example 4 - a couple left Argentina by travelling by boat to one country, then flying to another, before returning to their home country to avoid questions at immigration. Example 5 - a couple travelled overland to exit Argentina before continuing their journey for the same reasons. Example 6 - a single woman planned to marry the surrogate mother, forcing her into a same-sex marriage, as a means of facilitating the child’s departure from Argentina. Example 7 - a single woman left Argentina with a child having followed a similar strategy. In several of the above examples, foreign commissioning parents were given Argentinian SIM cards by the agencies, in case the police seized their foreign phones. This suggests to us there were expectations of questions being asked so ‘solutions’ were put in place to facilitate the trafficking of a newborn babies. Do you see it yet?

🇦🇺News from Australia; The New South Wales Legislative Council has released a report entitled 'Fertility support and assisted reproductive treatment' and it includes #surrogacy. As with the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which abandoned its 15-year effort in March, a consensus could not be reached. The NSW committee could not agree on a way forward for reforms, to include pre-birth parentage orders and 'altruistic' surrogacy. Given that the report from Australian Law Reform Commission is expected on 18th November, this is quite a blow to #lawreform of surrogacy in Australia. files.parliament.nsw.gov.au/…

“You and your husband just had a baby. Congratulations, yeah. How old? How old is the baby?” One thing is for sure, we do not need ChatGPT to know that it wasn’t Sam Altman or husband Oliver Mulherin who had the baby.

**Update** on another US scandal uncovered in 2023 by @FingerLakes1: "Woman accused of forging documents to arrange a surrogacy without her husband’s knowledge has pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges." fingerlakes1.com/2026/10/25/… MaryBeth Lewis, a 69 year old nurse from NYC already had 13 children (including children born from donated gametes) when she commissioned twins through #surrogacy using donor embryos. She allegedly forged her husband's signature on legal documents and impersonated him during a court hearing to secure parental rights. The twins were placed in foster care during the legal proceedings. Since then, the children have been returned to the care of Mr and Mrs Lewis while the foster parents continue to contest the outcome. The New York Times is paywalled so we share this for more background: people.com/mom-who-faced-fel…

To attend the Book launch for In Search of My Mother by @maurel_olivia , an adult born through #surrogacy, please RSVP to [email protected] by 10th November. 📅 Thursday 12 November 6–8pm 📍 The Owl Bookshop, 207-209 Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2JU

This Europol investigation brings our total count of reported cases of #HumanTrafficking in #surrogacy to 39, (since 2018). This operation identified 51 female potential victims and 5 suspected human traffickers. europol.europa.eu/media-pres… Do you see it yet?

Baby Poppy was born through surrogacy and was just over 2 months old when along with among 20 other children, she was removed from a California mansion amid serious child-abuse allegations. Mother Tronderrica James, says she was lied to, suffered a life-threatening birth and was prevented from saying goodbye to her baby. This is #surrogacy.

Here's our weekly round up of news in #surrogacy: 🇬🇧UK - an international agency has been ordered to pay a British couple $87,415. Floridian Judge Judge Thomas Ramsberger issued a default judgment against World Center Group Corp as former and current representatives failed to respond to the lawsuit. A second lawsuit alleges another commissioning parent paid $40,000+ for medical procedures in Mexico that never took place. occrp.org/en/investigation/i… 🇺🇦 Ukraine - A woman is suspected of selling her baby for $20,000, allegedly using a fictitious surrogacy agreement to disguise the transaction. Ukraine’s Ombudsman reports that 22 children have been officially recognised as trafficking victims so far in 2026. Read the report. zmina.info/news/v-ukrayini-v… 🇪🇺 Europol - an investigation reveals the suspected exploitation of Vietnamese women in surrogacy arrangements during an international operation involving investigators from 20 countries. This operation identified ✅ 51 female potential victims ✅ 6 potential criminal networks & 5 suspected human traffickers identified ✅ 26 online platforms & 77 social network accounts checked ✅ 166 entities (individuals, usernames, locations, and phone numbers) checked europol.europa.eu/media-pres…

**UPDATE** on the World Center of Baby. This international #surrogacy agency has been ordered to pay a UK couple $87,415. The couple paid for a programme covering surrogate matching, medical coordination and the births of not one but two children. Judge Thomas Ramsberger issued a default judgment against World Center Group Corp, former listed president Yuri Star and listed director Malvina Jonas and the agency’s US entity and 2 representatives failed to respond to the lawsuit. 
A second lawsuit alleges another commissioning parent paid $40,000+ for medical procedures in Mexico that never took place. Read more in this investigation from @OCCRP which questions the agency’s ownership, finances and operations. Our thoughts? Based on the growing number of fraudulent activity, #humantrafficking and harm caused to so many women and children, it’s all the more reason to shut #surrogacy down. occrp.org/en/news/collapsed-…

“Therefore, at this stage, GS should still be regarded as experimental. Anyone considering GS should be informed of the potentially higher maternal and neonatal complication rates. Further research should be conducted on GS compared to TS and to SC, using adequately powered cohorts, and reporting twin and singleton pregnancy results.” GS = gestational surrogacy (egg donor conceived pregnancy) TS = traditional surrogacy (conceived with your own egg) Thank you for the tag @JenniferLahl and to @susan_bewley et al for this important research!