Not all women are given the chance to get pregnant and give birth. In the United States, 10% of women (15 to 44 years old) suffer from infertility. For those women, surrogacy becomes a solution.
In 2015, Jessica Allen started looking into surrogacy.
She wanted to help โblessโ another couple with a child. Along with her husband, she approached Omega Family Global. The company matched her to a childless couple in China.
After following the necessary preparations, an In Vitro Fertilization was done. Itโs a process where a male frozen embryo (the Chinese couple) was implanted into the surrogate. Jessica became pregnant after.
After a month, she found out that she was carrying twins.
Jessica thought it was just an unexpected happening. The people from Omega told her that the embryo that had been transferred into her had split, causing her to carry identical male twins. As a result, she was paid additional money for carrying a second child for the couple.
On December 12, 2016, Jessica gave birth via C-section.
After the babies were born, they were taken away immediately before Jessica could even see them. The next day, she asked if she could see the babies as what the parties agreed on prior to the delivery.
Unfortunately, a surrogate liaison coordinator with the company said that she couldnโt see or even hold the babies. This left Jessica feeling devastated.
She was only permitted to see a cell phone photograph of the babies.
Upon seeing the babies, Jessica realized that they looked nothing alike. They looked so different.
The childless couple was Chinese. Jessica, on the other hand, was white. Her husband happened to be African-American.
A month after, Jessica received another photo of the twins.
It came from the mother who asked her if she thought that the babies looked the same.
Jessica said that they looked nothing alike. In fact, for her, one of the babies was clearly bi-racial while the other one was Chinese.
DNA tests were done.
The couple had DNA tests done on both babies. The result revealed that one of them was clearly not theirs. They returned the baby to Omega, saying that they didnโt want to do anything with the bi-racial kid.
Despite the confirmation, Jessica and her husband still couldnโt take the baby home.
Tracy Armato, the surrogate liaison coordinator, demanded that the company be paid nearly $9,200 for the expenses for the babyโs care. Plus, they had to be paid $3,000 to have his birth certificate changed. Failure to pay the fees meant giving up the coupleโs rights and putting the baby up for adoption.
A few days later, they received more demands. It included the payment of about $18,000 to $22,000 to compensate the Chinese couple for returning the baby.
Jessica and her husband got a lawyer.
They worked closely with their lawyer and spent about $3,000 on legal fees. After a few days, the company handed over the baby to Jessica.
Unfortunately, the baby was in poor health.
He had severe diaper rash, breathing problems, and other health issues. Obviously, Jessica and her partner were devastated.
A report stated:
โThey have suffered immense and irreparable loss as to what can never be regained, i.e. being able to bond with their baby during the first two months of his life, holding him, watching him sleep, putting him to bed, feeding him, playing with him, getting to know him โ all of this was stolen from Jessica and Wardell, all of this they can never get back.โ
Thankfully, the baby is back with his parents and siblings.
In an interview, Jessica shared:
โHeโs just so smart, so intelligent. Heโs learning fast. Heโs got two big brothers to run after and learn from.โ
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