A US surrogacy agency goes poof — with intended parents' money
Anyone interested in surrogacy should read these two articles.
Sarah Kliff. “A Surrogacy Firm Told Parents-to-Be Their Money Was Safe. Suddenly, It Vanished.“ The New York Times. 10 Dec 2025.
Ben Foldy. “Surrogacy Is a Multibillion-Dollar Business. Sometimes the Money Goes Missing.“ The Wall Street Journal. 21 Oct 2025.
According to this WSJ article, there have been several cases this year. Among them:
“In May, surrogacy agency owner Lillian Markowitz was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud. Prosecutors said she embezzled more than $150,000 from clients between 2019 and 2021 to cover other business and personal expenses, including for her side business, a yoga studio with flotation chambers.”
“In August, Darryl Kauffman was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to six counts of wire fraud stemming from his surrogacy escrow business. Prosecutors accused him of stealing client money for his business and personal expenses, including for buying bitcoin.”
In September “Destiny Combs was sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud. Prosecutors said she embezzled $2.7 million from IARC Surrogacy, a Minnesota-based surrogacy agency, and a related law firm where she worked as the accounting manager. Combs used the funds to pay off her online gambling debts.”