False surrogates on the web

The “promise of a child” scams

Advertisements of young women offering carrying a baby for a couple abound on the net. In addition to the fact that surrogacy remains illegal in France, these announcements often only constitute extortion attempts. Taking advantage of the distress of a couple, these “false surrogates” often disappear in nature with the money advanced… And knowing that they are illegal, couples do not always dare to file a complaint. 

“Little stork”, or “sincere angel”

Regularly, surrogacy cases practiced in the shadow of the internet hit the legal headlines. These are then brought to light illegal practices which arise in most cases on forums, against a background of prohibition of surrogacy. Such as the trial which took place in 2013 in Saint-Brieuc: a sterile couple had called on the services of a surrogate mother, who had disappeared with the baby. The surrogate had been prosecuted for this artisanal insemination, and the couple for complicity. Or in 2016, in Blois, where a woman had been sentenced by the court to a one-year suspended sentence: she sold her “services” to several couples at the same time, of course pocketing the money in the process, then disappeared. On the Internet, she called herself “Little Stork”, or “Sincere Angel”. As for the four “sponsor” parents, they had all been sentenced to 2 euros fine suspended for “incitement to abandon a child”. Or more recently, this case judged at the Court of Dieppe (Seine-Maritime) in June 2018: the surrogate mother had sold the baby to two different couples, pocketing twice the sum of 15 euros. Two couples who then clashed in court to obtain custody of the child. There too, the surrogate mother recruited her victims on forums. 

Internet surrogate mothers

Many couples, gay or heterosexual, desperate, ready to do anything to have a child, come into contact on sometimes very specialized forums with potential surrogates, not all with the best intentions, in any case rarely launched by a purely altruistic approach. Couples who decide to take the plunge (and sometimes some succeed) must therefore find a potential surrogate, who will also be the progenitor. Conception is carried out via “artisanal” insemination: the woman self-inseminates with the man’s sperm. If pregnancy occurs, the man recognizes the child in advance. The surrogate motherthen gives birth under X, but it signals the existence of the father, who becomes only legal parent and sole holder of parental authority. His wife can secondly proceed with a simple adoption to be the holder in turn of parental authority. It is impossible to know how many couples have reached the final stage of this totally illegal process. 

A pregnancy test against an advance of 5 euros

Laurent himself almost left a good part of his savings there. “With my wife, older than me, we tried everything to have a baby, IVF, adoption. Nothing to do. We registered on a forum. We met a very nice 26 year old young woman. She had just separated from her husband, she had two children, she was living with her father. His criminal record was empty. Artificial insemination was considered. We were so happy! She asked us for 10 euros. It seemed normal to us. I made it clear to her that we needed guarantees, that I would give an advance once she was pregnant and that I would go and make the declaration of paternity. But very quickly the suspicion arises. The ovulation dates announced by the young woman are too close. “After 10 years of treatment, I had become a pro at calculating ovarian cycles. I ticked. She explained that she was wrong. »Via the forum, Laurent comes into contact with another couple from the region. They live a few kilometers away, sympathize, and find that they are undergoing the same procedure… with the same surrogate mother. ” We understood that she was just trying to cash the advance paid and vanish into the wild. That she had never intended to carry a baby. Fortunately, we had not yet paid a penny. “

Scammed 7 euros

A similar mishap happened to this other couple. “When we decided to use a surrogate mother,” says Marielle, “we immediately found an ad on a forum with a cell phone number. The young woman was charming on the phone. She said she had already had a first experience. She was very reassuring. »An appointment is made. Immediately, the young woman talks about money. “She took advantage of the fact that the balance of power was in her favor to put pressure on us. The couples in demand are very numerous. We are desperate, aware that we are illegal. So it’s easy. The potential surrogate suggests insemination for the following week, and asks for 7 euros in advance. The couple complied. “She didn’t seem in a great hurry to take the test. Then she told us it was negative. It was plausible. We returned to the forum and there we came across an ad from the same girl who continued to offer her services. We were devastated. We had a telephone explanation, wrote on the forum to warn the other couples. ” This scam did not completely cool the couple. “ We are in contact with another young woman who volunteered without asking for compensation. We sympathized. We will help him financially, obviously. She has four children including a 5 month old baby. She wishes not to appear in the child’s life afterwards. She considers that filiation does not pass through genes. For her, it is the fact of breastfeeding that makes her a mother. ” 

Leave a Reply