Fertility Inc.: When the Surrogate Gets Left With the Bill

Summary

The Journal. – March 6, 2026

Episode Title: Fertility Inc.: When the Surrogate Gets Left With the Bill
Hosts: Ryan Knudson & Jessica Mendoza
Featured Guests: Nia Trent Wilson (Surrogate), Catherine Whelan (WSJ Reporter)

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Episode Overview

This powerful episode of The Journal opens a four-part series investigating stories from the edges of the booming US fertility industry. Today’s focus centers on the harrowing journey of Nia Trent Wilson, a three-time surrogate, whose third surrogacy experience turned into a medical and financial nightmare. Through her story, alongside expert commentary from reporter Catherine Whelan, the episode exposes the lack of safeguards for surrogates, vulnerabilities in surrogacy contracts, and the weaknesses of an underregulated multi-billion dollar industry.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Promise and Joy of Surrogacy

• Nia’s Initial Surrogacy Journeys
  • Nia, based in Houston, describes her first surrogacy as “nothing short of amazing,” noting the care and lasting relationship she has with the intended parents and the child (00:32–01:47).
    • “I was able to create a family single handedly and to me that became my superpower… I saw how thankful and how grateful they were. It really like, it really touched me.” – Nia Trent Wilson (01:56)
  • Her second experience was also positive, and compensation increased, especially as she carried twins the second time (07:32–07:56).

2. The Third Surrogacy: When Everything Goes Wrong

• Meeting the Intended Parents and Initial Positivity (08:43–09:06)
  Nia was matched with a gay couple in DC through the agency Angels Creation Reproductive Center (ACRC), with a promised fee of $70,000 for her third surrogacy due to her experience.
• Things Turn Sour: Emotional Distress
  • After one of the two embryos failed (“only one baby took”), the intended parents blamed Nia, calling her “a baby killer.”
    • “At the doctor's appointment, they discovered that only one baby took. And…they start calling me a baby killer.” – Nia Trent Wilson (09:43)
  • The couple’s behavior became increasingly hostile, attempting to find breaches in her contract, requesting repeated drug tests and accessing her medical records without consent (12:22–13:56).
    • “I was going to lose my child in the process of having all of this, because these are some serious allegations that you're putting on me.” – Nia Trent Wilson (14:35)
• Medical Crisis and Betrayal
  • Nia developed placenta accreta, a life-threatening condition (15:10), and had to undergo emergency surgery, resulting in a hysterectomy and loss of her ability to bear children (16:40–17:09).
  • The parents took the baby and disappeared without settling the tens of thousands owed to Nia (17:39–17:51).

3. The Business Mechanics: Contracts, Payment, and Accountability

• The Role of Contracts (18:36–19:54)
  • The gestational surrogacy agreement is crucial: it covers process rules, payment schedules, and parental rights. However, enforcement is left to contract law, with few industry regulations.
• Nia’s Financial Nightmare
  • Despite a $95,000 escrow, Nia wasn’t paid the majority of her fee after the couple depleted the account and failed to top it up for complications or wage losses (19:54–20:10).
    • “My contract says like after I delivered, the full amount is due and… the rest of the money owed was almost like 75,000.” – Nia Trent Wilson (19:54)
  • She was left uninsured for her $182,000 surgery bill because the escrow was drained and insurance lapsed (20:14).
• No Recourse, No Protection
  • Nia lacked resources to hire an attorney, and the parents turned out to be financially insolvent (21:20–22:04).
    • “The number of attorneys who feel confident practicing surrogacy law is quite small and often those attorneys are practicing Law in such a way that privileges relationships with parents and surrogacy agencies over surrogates.” – Catherine Whelan (20:47)
  • Even the agency (ACRC) denied responsibility, saying their only concern was whether parents could initially fund the escrow (23:56–24:21).
    • “Every time that something will go on, I was reporting it… I have maybe at this time, two, three police reports with stalking, harassment and nothing.” – Nia Trent Wilson (23:23)
  • In court, Nia was awarded $41,000—not enough to cover her debts (24:21).

4. Systemic Industry Problems & Power Imbalance (25:19–27:29)

• Nia reflects on how the lack of regulation means “there’s nobody to report you to…you can continue to keep ruining people’s lives and just pick up shop and go across the street and start it all over again.” (25:19)
• The judge’s decision highlights fundamental issues: agencies and contracts protect business interests, not surrogates.
• Reporter Catherine Whelan sums up:
  • “At the end of the day, this is a business and it’s governed by contract law. It’s not a gift.” (27:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The third surrogacy was a complete and total nightmare. And that’s putting it nicely.”
  – Nia Trent Wilson (02:27)
• “You have a small part in changing someone life forever…I think at the end of the day there is an altruistic motive.”
  – Catherine Whelan (06:09)
• “They start calling me a baby killer…Embarrassed, belittled, ashamed… I have to carry the baby with a level of decorum because I am responsible for this child.”
  – Nia Trent Wilson (09:43–10:15)
• “She’ll never be able to carry a child again. Nia says the doctors moved her to the orthopedic floor to recover so that the parents…wouldn’t be able to find her.”
  – Ryan Knudson (17:09)
• “My perception of it has changed because now if you do wrong, there’s nobody to report you to, there’s nobody to shut you down…you can continue to keep ruining people’s lives…”
  – Nia Trent Wilson (25:19)
• “Some of the text messages she shared with me between her and the agency, it sounded like she was asking them over and over again…what can you do? How can you help me?”
  – Catherine Whelan (23:06)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Nia’s first and second surrogacy stories: 00:24–02:12; 07:32–08:00
• Turning point in third surrogacy (“nightmare”): 09:43–10:15
• Agency and contract mechanics: 11:30–12:19; 18:36–20:14
• Medical emergency and loss: 15:10–17:09
• Financial betrayal and aftermath: 19:54–20:14; 22:33–24:21
• Systemic industry critique: 25:19–27:29

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Conclusion

Through Nia’s ordeal, this episode reveals the devastating consequences of a surrogacy system with profit-driven players, unregulated gaps, and little legal recourse for surrogates. Powerful personal testimony, legal insights, and critique of industry norms push the listener to consider the human stakes behind fertility industry contracts.

Coming next in the series: A look at what happens when it all goes wrong for intended parents.

Transcript

[Ryan Knudsen]

Over 10,000 times a year, someone in America says yes to carrying a child that isn't theirs. Nia Trent Wilson was one of them.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Every time I tell somebody my story, like I guess people are taken aback because it's not every day that you meet a surrogate.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia lives in Houston and has her own 14 year old son. She's also been a surrogate three times.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

The first experience was nothing short of amazing. The mom and the dad were at all of the appointments and then I delivered the baby. They named her after me. Her middle name is my name.

[Ryan Knudsen]

What Nia remembers most from that time was how well the intended parents treated her. The delivery had been a complicated C section and the parents supported her during her recovery.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

They had it to where they paid out of pocket for me to have my own hotel slash recovery room with my own nurse, my own maid, my own chef, my own everything. And I'm just like, what is going on here?

[Ryan Knudsen]

They really wanted to take care of you.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

It sounds like over the top. I've never had, like I was not allowed to move. Like it was almost unheard of.

[Ryan Knudsen]

It's been a few years now, but Nia is still in touch with that first family.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I go to a lot of the birthday parties still. I go to a lot of family functions. I'm treated like family more than anything and it's just an amazing experience for me.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia sent us videos of her hanging out with a baby that shares her name.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Carrie said, Carrie Carrot.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Love you.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I was able to create a family single handedly and to me that became my superpower, you know, and I saw the way that I changed my intended parents and I saw how thankful and how grateful they were. It really like, it really touched me.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia went on to become a surrogate a second time and had another successful experience. So she decided to go for it again a third time. How would you characterize the third one? If you were to put it in a word or two?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

A nightmare. A nightmare. The third surrogacy was a complete and total nightmare. And that's putting it nicely.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That surrogacy would not only threaten Nia's life, but would also turn into a massive legal battle.

[Catherine Whelan]

You know, I think Nia's experience speaks as a testament to what can happen for women who choose to become a surrogate and the lack of safeguards that exist for those women.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

So I'm just grateful to be here, you know, to tell my story.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Friday, March 6th. Over the next four Fridays, we're bringing you stories from the fringes of the fertility industry. Today, they took the baby. She was left with the bill.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

Since the very first baby was born via surrogacy in 1985, the use of surrogates has exploded in America. In these days, people typically encounter the idea of being a surrogate online.

[Catherine Whelan]

A lot of surrogates, their first entry into the world of surrogacy is through Facebook or Instagram or TikTok.

[Apple Card Announcer]

Come along with me on my trip to get medically cleared as a gestational surrogate for the second time.

[Ryan Knudsen]

My colleague Katherine Long has been diving into how it all works.

[Catherine Whelan]

You know, there's a growing number of surrogacy influencers, people who are surrogates, and posting about what they call their surrogacy journey.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

So I decided to start sharing my surrogacy journey. And I'm thinking, why not share it from the very beginning, I picked an

[Catherine Whelan]

agency I'm going with for my next surrogate journey.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Demand for surrogates is high right now, and there aren't enough people willing to do the job. So surrogacy agencies, the companies that connect surrogates with intended parents, have gotten creative about recruitment by using online testimonials.

[Catherine Whelan]

For example, I spent a lot of time watching people who are trying to recruit women to become surrogates.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And Catherine found that running through a lot of these posts was a central message.

[Catherine Whelan]

There was often an expectation that surrogates should be doing it for the right reasons. You have a small part in changing someone life forever. I think at the end of the day There is an altruistic motive. They want to help people. They want to give the gift of childhood.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And so not because they want to just make money.

[Catherine Whelan]

Right.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

There's something in your heart that tells you that you are meant to do this for someone. And now here I am, someone's hope.

[Catherine Whelan]

And that just feels incredible.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

And it's a privilege. It cannot be all about the money and it really isn't.

[Ryan Knudsen]

But of course, for a lot of surrogates, the money is a huge motivator. Surrogates can make anywhere from around $30,000 to over $100,000.

[Catherine Whelan]

One surrogate I spoke to at length talked about putting it in her child's college fund. Another surrogate I spoke to talked about putting it towards legal fees because an ex was trying to retain custody of their child and she was in court fighting that out. You know, people who become surrogates are not often destitute, but they are often struggling financially.

[Ryan Knudsen]

For Nia Trent Wilson, who you heard from earlier, her first surrogacy made her $30,000. The second time, the amount ballooned to $50,000, which she says felt like a significant bump.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I said, whoa, like it was a big. And especially carrying twins.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Oh, you carried twins the second time?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

The second time I carry twins.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Oh my God. That's not easy.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

That's not easy. And you'll never guess. I had twins at 36 weeks and they're both almost eight pounds apiece.

[Catherine Whelan]

Wow.

[Ryan Knudsen]

You're able to grow some really healthy babies.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Yes. It was amazing.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That high of helping to build families, not to mention the money, convinced Nia to do it again a third time. At first, everything seemed great. Nia spotted an ad on Facebook for an agency called Angels Creation Reproductive center or ACR rc. It had glowing reviews on Google and the agency told Nia that she could get paid $70,000 this time because I'm

[Nia Trent Wilson]

a three time surrogate. So every time you have a surrogacy, most of the time it's just going to keep going up. So again, I collected my medical records. I'm doing the whole intake process.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Within weeks, the agency approved Nia and matched her with a gay couple in Washington D.C. their names were Jason St. Fleur and Ricky Lovell Scott, a lawyer and a filmmaker. What were your initial impressions of them?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

That they're a nice, normal couple and that they just really long for a child.

[Ryan Knudsen]

The intended parents each wanted a genetic baby, which means they each wanted a donor egg to be fertilized with their respective sperm and transferred into Nia's Uterus. If it worked, it meant Nia would be once again carrying twins. Doctors warned that carrying twins a second time would be risky, but Nia agreed to try. She signed a surrogacy contract with the intended parents, and the embryos were implanted. A few weeks later, St. Flor and Scott joined Nia for a doctor's appointment to see whether the transfer had worked.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

At the doctor's appointment, they discovered that only one baby took. And when they discovered that only one baby took, as opposed to two, they start calling me a baby killer.

[Ryan Knudsen]

A baby killer. Nia says that one of the intended parents started rolling on the floor, crying. Well, how did you feel in that moment?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

A mix of emotions. Embarrassed, belittled, ashamed. Like, I, you know, like. And I'm already pregnant, so I'm already in on all of these IBS medicines, so I'm mentally, emotionally, like, vulnerable right now. Now you're calling me a baby killer, and you're rolling on the floor, and I'm just like, what did I do wrong? And I have to remain strong because I do have this child. So I can't buy into the emotions, for lack of better terms. I have to, you know, carry the baby with a level of decorum because I am responsible for this child. And I know that being sad or not okay is not okay for the baby.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Saint Fleur and Scott did not respond to requests for comment. After that day in the doctor's office, Nia says the couple's attitude towards her shifted, and they started raising questions about the agreement that Nia had signed at the start of the process, their surrogacy contract. Catherine, what kind of a contract is a surrogate like Nia typically tied to?

[Catherine Whelan]

Once a surrogate agrees to match with a parent, they will sign what's called a gestational surrogacy agreement. What that agreement does is give the intended parents the parental rights over the children the surrogate is carrying. The surrogate agrees not to seek those parental rights. And the surrogate also might, depending on the contract, agree not to engage in certain activities during the pregnancy.

[Ryan Knudsen]

What are the things that a surrogate could do that could result in a breach of contract?

[Catherine Whelan]

I mean, the surrogate could use drugs. The surrogate could engage in risky sexual behaviors. Surrogate could travel more than 50 miles away from her home. Surrogate could. Could, in some extremely restrictive contracts, drink water out of a plastic water bottle. Some contracts are very worried about that.

[Ryan Knudsen]

So what happened in Nia's case?

[Catherine Whelan]

From my reading of the records that Nia has shared with me, and the numerous conversations I've had with her. It seemed like from that point, Ricky and Jason started taking steps to probe whether Nia was in compliance with her contract, possibly in order to try to find her in breach.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia could sense that something was off, so she started documenting all of her interactions with the intended parents.

[Catherine Whelan]

They repeatedly asked her to take drug tests, which all came back negative. At one point, somebody called Nia's medical provider, and they said that it was a doctor's office, and they asked the medical provider to fax Nia's medical records to them.

[Ryan Knudsen]

The person calling said their name was Gregory Lewis. When Nia found out about this, she phoned the medical provider herself. It was a medical testing company called LabCorp. NIA recorded that call yesterday.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

There's a call from a person named Gregory Lewis. Yes. I don't know who Gregory Lewis is. Okay. But he gave us the account number.

[Ryan Knudsen]

It turns out that Gregory Lewis was the name of the notary the intended parents had used for Nia's surrogacy contract. And the address that this Gregory had given to the medical provider was actually an address associated with one of the intended parents, Jason St. Fleur.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

If somebody has access to my records, I want to know why it was released.

[Catherine Whelan]

Nia interpreted that as the couple trying to access her medical records without authorization.

[Ryan Knudsen]

At another point, Nia got an unexpected visit at home.

[Catherine Whelan]

A social worker showed up at Nia's door and claimed that somebody had made a report that she was using drugs. She denies that she did, and nothing amounted from that social worker visit.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia suspected it was the intended parents who called the social worker, and she started to worry what could happen to her own son if St. Fleur and Scott kept making these kinds of claims.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I was going to lose my child in the process of having all of this, because these are some serious allegations that you're putting on me.

[Ryan Knudsen]

A few months later, Nia got a diagnosis that made things even worse. At an ultrasound, Nia learned she developed a very serious condition called placenta accreta. It's when the placenta embeds too deeply in the uterine wall. The diagnosis meant Nia could lose her uterus or even bleed to death during delivery. I asked Nia what went through her mind when she got that news that

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I would never be able to do this again. That, like, my whole surrogacy career, you know, is just done for and that I just don't want to die. And that's not, you know, as scary as it sounds is that I Start making preparations, like with my mom, my son, and my will, everything. And so I wanted to make sure that all my affairs were in order. Those are some things that went through my mind.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Then a few weeks later, Nia went into labor. She let the intended parents know.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I'm telling the intended parents that, hey, I'm in the. I'm in the hospital. I think I'm about to give birth. They start arguing. They said, you weren't supposed to come. The baby wasn't supposed to come. To this day, how did the baby come early? What did you do? And I'm just like, are you kidding me right now?

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia was bleeding internally and was rushed to an emergency C section.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I go to delivery, I'm on this cold table, and. And they're gonna deliver the baby. And the doctor, he's like, hey, I'm gonna see this. I can salvage or, you know, or whatever. They're like, we don't know what we're walking into. And the next thing you know, I just wake up for about maybe about a half of a second. And they're like, nia, tell the baby goodbye. And I'm like, you know, I tell the baby bye.

[Ryan Knudsen]

The baby was a girl, and she was quickly whisked away. Nia was not doing well.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

And they turn up the sedation even more because they're like, it's bad. And they're like, you know, so the crash, cars start coming in there, everything. That's the only thing I remember. And like. And I know I was in surgery for a total of maybe six hours to save my life.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Nia's internal bleeding was bad. The doctors had to remove her uterus and fallopian tubes. She'll never be able to carry a child again. Nia says the doctors moved her to the orthopedic floor to recover so that the parents, St. Fleur and Scott, wouldn't be able to find her. In the end, St. Fleur and Scott went home with the baby. But Nia's nightmare was far from over.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I knew that after I had the hysterectomy and they had the baby, they walked away. I said, oh, yeah, they're not going to pay me. And I was right. They didn't pay me.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That's after the break.

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[Ryan Knudsen]

Despite the fact that surrogacy is a multi billion dollar industry, it's largely unregulated. And that makes the contract between the surrogates and the intended parents super important. Because if conflict arises, it's what's in the contract that matters. One of the key things the contract does is lay out the terms of when and how the surrogate gets paid. In Nia's case, the intended parents, Jason St. Fleur and Ricky Scott, initially put $95,000 into an independent escrow account. That should have been enough money to cover just about everything had the pregnancy gone smoothly. But it didn't. For instance, after Nia's placenta accreted diagnosis, her doctors put her on eight weeks of bed rest. According to Nia's contract, the intended parents should have put more money into the escrow account to cover her wages and child care costs. They also should have compensated Nia for any complications like her hysterectomy. According to legal documents, the intended parents didn't do any of that. And by the time Nia delivered the baby, the escrow account was nearly empty.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

My contract says like after I delivered, the full amount is due and the full amount due to me still with the complications with the rest of the money owed was almost like 75,000.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Wow. You were still owed $75,000 and there was nothing left in escrow?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Nothing left in escrow.

[Ryan Knudsen]

With the escrow account depleted, there wasn't enough money to pay for Nia's health insurance, meaning Nia didn't have coverage during her C section and roughly six hour surgery. Ultimately, Nia is now on the hook for all the medical bills. $182,000. What recourse is there for a surrogate who has an experience like this where they're not paid what the contract says they're owed?

[Catherine Whelan]

Well, I mean, the most immediate recourse would be for her to hire an attorney and sue the parents. There's a couple of issues with that in this case. I mean, one that's common to most surrogates is that, you know, as, as we've discussed, surrogates often are not the most financially liquid people. It's difficult for them to find an attorney who's going to take a case on contingency. The number of attorneys who feel confident practicing surrogacy law is quite small and often those attorneys are practicing Law in such a way that privileges relationships with parents and surrogacy agencies over surrogates.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And Nia had another problem in her case, the parents weren't even worth suing because it turns out, according to Catherine's reporting, Jason St. Fleur and Ricky Scott were broke.

[Catherine Whelan]

What I know from legal records is that in the months preceding his contract with ACRC, Ricky Level Scott took out a $60,000 loan. He only paid $7,000 with that loan. It's not clear to me whether that money was going towards the surrogacy journey, whether he took that $60,000 and put it into Nia's escrow account. But. But it does speak to a pattern of this couple taking out loans or not paying what they owe and then facing very little judgment.

[Ryan Knudsen]

The lender, SoFi, tried to sue Scott, but had to drop its claim because it couldn't locate him to serve him the complaint. Eventually, Nia was able to find an attorney to help pursue the surrogacy agency, acrc. She alleged that the agency breached its contract with her by matching her with unsuitable parents. ACRC denies the allegation.

[Catherine Whelan]

Nia sent me email chains and text messages she had with the agency and the parents. And what was apparent to me was that the agency that Nia had worked with, they had stepped back from taking any kind of active role in managing her relationship with the parents.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Right. What's amazing to me about this story is that, like, she could see what was happening around her, and yet she felt like there was nothing that she could do.

[Catherine Whelan]

Yeah, that's right. I mean, some of the text messages she shared with me between her and the agency, it sounded like she was asking them over and over again, like, what can you do? Like, how can you help me?

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Every time that something will go on, I was reporting it. I was telling him, like. And that's what upset me a lot with the surrogacy agency, because I'm telling them what's going on. I'm emailing, I'm calling. I'm like, I'm in fear for my life. I have maybe at this time, two, three police reports with stalking, harassment and nothing.

[Ryan Knudsen]

In an email, ACRC said the agency had remained in communication with Nia throughout the surrogacy process and that they provided assistance when concerns were raised.

[Catherine Whelan]

When Nia finally had her day in court, the head of the agency testified in court that really the only thing the agency cared about when they chose to contract with Ricky and Jason was whether Ricky and Jason would be able to fully fund the escrow account. In other words, whether they'd be able to put up NIA's $70,000 fee and some extra money on top of that. And they were. And at that point the agency considered them cleared. They were good to go.

[Ryan Knudsen]

In court, ACRC's CEO Shen Li said the agency believed the intended parents ability to place so much money at once into the escrow account was sufficient proof of their financial suitability. Ultimately, the judge sided with Nia and ordered ACRC to pay her $41,000. In his ruling, the judge called out the power imbalance between surrogates and agencies. He said that ACRC was able to make money by treating Nia's body as a profit venturing business and that the company itself didn't take on much risk during the surrogacy. In an email to the Journal, the CEO said, quote, acrc remains committed to ethical and responsible surrogacy practices and to supporting both surrogates and intended parents through what is often a deeply personal process. Nia is still deeply in debt from her third surrogacy. She says she's thinking about the entire industry a lot differently now.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

My perception of it has changed because now if you do wrong, there's nobody to report you to, there's nobody to shut you down. They're just like, oh well, and you can continue to keep ruining people's lives and just pick up shop and go across the street and start it all over again.

[Ryan Knudsen]

I mean, it's kind of amazing because like successful surrogacy is like the highest high. Like you bring life into this world, you know, you can help a family become a family, you know, but then also like, it has the lowest low.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Right.

[Ryan Knudsen]

And it can also ruin lives as well.

[Nia Trent Wilson]

Yes, absolutely.

[Ryan Knudsen]

I can't even imagine what that almost have been like for you.

[Catherine Whelan]

I,

[Nia Trent Wilson]

I, and I think I still haven't fully processed it because believe it or not, I'm still trying to deal with everything right now. So I've had like no break, believe it or not. Like I'm still trying to work through everything that's going on right now.

[Catherine Whelan]

What I left this story with was a feeling that there's very few protections for women who choose to be surrogates. Many of them, many of them bear children and have excellent relationships with the families they work with and it's not a problem. But the minority who have truly terrible experiences, there's very little that can be done to prevent that. And it also speaks to, I think, the way that the fertility industry has encouraged and in some ways institutionalized an imbalance of power between people who are trying to have children and the people who are helping them do so. People like nia, the surrogates who are stepping up and choosing to make this part of their livelihoods.

[Ryan Knudsen]

It kind of makes me think about what you said in the beginning, about how all the agencies and the people that are promoting surrogacy say, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. It should just be that you want to give a gift to somebody.

[Catherine Whelan]

I mean, at the end of the day, this is a business and it's governed by contract law. It's not a gift.

[Ryan Knudsen]

Next Friday, we're continuing our investigation into the fertility industry and how it can all go wrong.

[Catherine Whelan]

I looked at my husband and he just goes, our money's gone.

[Ryan Knudsen]

This time for the intended parents.

[Catherine Whelan]

And I was like, no, there's got to be a mistake. Like, we're fine. There's got to be a mistake. There was absolutely no mistake. Our money was gone.

[Ryan Knudsen]

That's all for today. Friday, March 6 the Journal is a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. The show is made by Kathryn Brewer, Victoria Dominguez, Pia Gadkari, Isabella Japal, Sophie Codner, Matt Kwong, Jessica Mendoza, Annie Minoff, Laura Morris, Enrique Perez de la Rosa, Sarah Platt, Allen Rodriguez Espinosa, Heather Rogers, Pierce Zingy, Lisa Wang, Catherine Whelan, Tatiana Zamis and me, Ryan Knudsen. This episode was produced by Jeevaka Verma and edited by Colin McNulty. Our engineers are Griffin Tanner, Nathan Singapak and Peter Leonard. Our theme music is by so Wiley and the theme in today's episode was remixed by Peter Leonard. Additional music this week from Katherine Anderson, Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord Nathan, Singapok, so Wiley and Blue Dot Sessions. Fact checking this week by Mary Mathis and Kate Gallagher. Thanks for listening. See you Monday.

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