The Baby Died. Whose Fault Is It?

Cindy Bi is not expected to beryllium telling maine this story.

First, there’s nan confidentiality clause. When Bi, a task capitalist who claims to person invested successful a twelve unicorns, hired a surrogate to transportation her only antheral embryo successful 2023, some parties agreed to support nan specifications backstage and distant from nan media. Then there’s nan restraining bid against Bi, followed by a court-ordered statement saying she would not truthful overmuch arsenic mention nan “surrogate” progressive successful Baby Leon’s stillbirth. Finally, location are societal norms to see erstwhile publically attacking nan female who says she almost died carrying your child.

Still, Bi is talking to me. She sends maine a astir 3,000-item files filled pinch ineligible filings; reports to master organizations, security companies, employers, and nan police; emails pinch her attorneys; and correspondence betwixt her and nan “Egg Whisperer” influencer, Dr. Aimee.

Bi considers herself a whistleblower retired to protect “unborn children via surrogacy.” Her website invokes scripture: “Establish justness successful nan courts. Amos 5:15.” Indeed, Bi has racked up astir a cardinal dollars successful ineligible bills since 2024, successful what she views arsenic a conflict to grant her son. “I want nan surrogate to beryllium known for what she did, to beryllium group arsenic an example,” Bi tells me. “I dream she goes to jail.” Ideally, for murder.

American surrogacy is an tremendous industry, taking successful astir $5 cardinal successful 2024, and nan believe is expected to detonate globally almost tenfold successful nan adjacent decade. It seems particularly celebrated successful Silicon Valley, wherever a increasing cadre of investors and executives, from OpenAI’s Sam Altman to Dropbox’s Drew Houston, person utilized it to turn their families. More than a twelve large tech companies supply five-figure subsidies to immoderate worker who needs aliases wants to outsource gestational labor. A shocking number of techies now judge increasing a babe tin beryllium a straightforward business transaction.

But intended parents and gestational carriers—IPs and GCs, arsenic they’re somewhat dehumanizingly known—are often uninformed astir nan dearth of regularisation and wholly unprepared for what tin spell wrong. Only 1 state, New York, requires agencies to beryllium licensed. Although America is nan world leader successful surrogacy, it’s besides nan developed federation pinch nan highest maternal mortality complaint and 1 of nan highest stillbirth rates, a business described by galore arsenic “a nationalist wellness crisis.” Compared to earthy conception, carrying a genetically unrelated fetus much than triples nan consequence of severe, perchance deadly conditions, a statistic surrogates are seldom given. IPs do not ever person to disclose complete aesculapian information, including histories of definite conditions that whitethorn harm their GCs. They don’t person to beryllium honorable astir really galore kids they have, why they are hiring a surrogate, aliases really galore different surrogates they person simultaneously pregnant. Do you really cognize who is carrying your child—or whose kid you are carrying?

Meanwhile, nan US is torn complete who controls a pregnant woman’s body. The expanding acceptance of “fetal personhood” intends that, successful galore states, losing a gestation tin beryllium charged arsenic a felony and perchance punished pinch life successful prison. This is thorny capable erstwhile it’s a woman’s ain baby. It’s exponentially much fraught erstwhile nan bearer isn’t nan parent.

Many of nan issues Bi and her surrogate encountered connected their “journey” are apt acold much communal than you’d ever imagine. But you haven’t heard astir them. They won’t power argumentation aliases lawsuit law, because they thin to unfold successful private, shrouded by confidentiality clauses and handled successful closed arbitration proceedings. A stark powerfulness differential intends that intended parents often person nan intends to record lawsuits and costs yearslong campaigns, while surrogates who consciousness screwed are forced to trust connected free ineligible thief and GoFundMe.

The lawsuit of Bi and her surrogate shows how, successful an situation pinch small regularisation and utmost inequality, nan occurrence of life tin mutate into a decease sentence.

Cindy Bi met her early hubby connected April Fools’ Day, 2016. It was a lukewarm Friday nighttime astatine Molly Magees, an Irish pub-slash-discotheque successful Mountain View, California. Jorge Valdeiglesias spotted Bi connected nan creation floor: heart-shaped face, agelong achromatic hair, snatched size-zero waist. He brought complete shots of Don Julio. Bi, a Chinese migrant and laminitis who’d later look connected a list of “30 of nan Most Successful Early-Stage Startup Investors,” inspected his Google badge to make judge it was real. “I’m older than you,” Bi told him. She was 36 to his boyish, rumpled 28. “But it’s OK, I froze my eggs.” Valdeiglesias was shocked by Bi’s forwardness—he was conscionable looking for a nosy night—but it worked.

When she and Valdeiglesias were fresh to commencement a family six years later, surrogacy was nan evident choice. At 43, Bi felt she was excessively aged to beryllium pregnant; she besides said she was connected a medicine that could lead to complications. Bi didn’t grieve nan decision. In a Facebook group for early IPs, she wrote: “I’ve been prepared for this for almost a decade.”

At first, Bi and Valdeiglesias considered implanting 2 embryos astatine erstwhile to person twins. Bi’s fertility expert powerfully discouraged that because of risks to nan babies and surrogate. Instead, Bi and Valdeiglesias settled connected “twiblings” gestated by abstracted women but calved a fewer weeks aliases months apart. They’d person a protective large relative and a saccharine small sister, fortuitously calved successful nan twelvemonth of nan Dragon, nan astir auspicious motion of nan Chinese zodiac.

They signed up pinch a Southern California–based agency, Surrogate Alternatives Inc. According to their psychological consult, Bi took an SSRI for PTSD spurred by work-related stressors, but hoped to wean disconnected soon. SAI quickly matched nan mates pinch a college-educated slope head successful Virginia. “She was perfect,” Bi told me. “Tall, healthy, young, bully job. I showed her disconnected to my friends. The only point I was concerned pinch was she’s a azygous mom, but I saw past it.”

Rebecca Smith was a erstwhile master jock who became willing successful surrogacy aft watching a adjacent friend struggle to conceive. (Although Smith’s existent sanction is public, I’m utilizing a pseudonym to protect her privacy. She declined to beryllium interviewed connected nan record, citing nan confidentiality clause and ongoing litigation.) The 34-year-old wanted to thief a family who couldn’t transportation their ain child. As she put it successful a Facebook post, she wanted to springiness them “the aforesaid emotion I recovered successful becoming a mom.”

In her floor plan photos, nan pale, lanky Smith mugged successful denim jackets and athleisure pinch her 6-year-old biracial son, whom I’ll telephone Ellis. Smith had antecedently dated but told her psych evaluator that “it doesn’t activity erstwhile you are a azygous mom.” She spent her free clip coaching her son’s sports teams; she ran errands connected weekends erstwhile Ellis was pinch his dad, who remained a bully friend. She was nan type of personification who preferred cooking astatine location to eating out, who made judge to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ellis was an almost 10-pound baby. The gestation had been unremarkable but for nan fact, perhaps, that her belly hadn’t shown until she was 7 months along.

Smith signed up pinch SAI, a well-regarded agency founded by a surrogate much than 2 decades earlier. She liked that it offered its GCs galore safeguards: IPs went done thorough vetting, including psychological screening, and each had a aesculapian logic for pursuing surrogacy; a elaborate statement betwixt nan GC and nan IPs would dictate nan terms; a third-party escrow would clasp nan money and salary Smith; she’d get allowances and reimbursements for housekeeping and maternity clothes; if Smith had to beryllium hospitalized aliases miss work, she’d person payments for mislaid wages and childcare. Also, Smith’s employer-provided security would dainty nan gestation arsenic if it were her ain baby—a awesome boon. Although straight paying a female to transportation your kid is technically forbidden successful Virginia, Smith’s statement specified that each payments were “reimbursements.” She planned to usage nan $45,000 “reimbursement” to salary disconnected her student loans and build an emergency fund.

Smith met Bi and Valdeiglesias successful a modular video telephone facilitated by SAI. In her psychological evaluation, Smith seemed smitten pinch nan couple, calling them “amazing.” The therapist wrote, “She feels they are ‘100% compatible.’” In nan summertime of 2023, Smith and Ellis flew retired to San Francisco for nan embryo transfer. Bi put them up successful a bully edifice for 12 days, adjacent to her apartment, and planned a elaborate sightseeing itinerary. Smith didn’t moreover petition reimbursement for her mislaid wages.

A expert implanted Bi and Valdeiglesias’ only antheral embryo wrong of Smith. Everyone was elated erstwhile it stuck. Bi asked Smith for support to stock a photograph of nan trial consequence connected Facebook, and Smith quickly agreed, inviting Bi to tag her. Bi and Smith texted each nan time: Smith shared her happy nausea and impressions of Baby Leon; Bi elaborate her changeless travels and her hunt for a 2nd GC. Smith tried to enlistee her ain sister for nan job, past a coworker. When scary but benign early bleeding brought Smith to nan ER, Bi sent her a DoorDash gift card.

But successful nan aftermath of nan bleeding, Smith recovered thing out. Bi had been posting astir Smith’s wellness successful Facebook groups, sharing trial results and crowdsourcing suggestions for her treatment. Bi didn’t mention to Smith by sanction but included unique specifications that allowed members of nan tight-knit organization to place her, which violated their contract.

Smith alerted SAI but didn’t face Bi, possibly calculating that it was amended not to consequence tainting their rapport. After all, nan surrogacy narration was dissimilar almost immoderate other. Once you were pregnant, location was nary going back. A caller quality had been—had to be—created.

In precocious 2023, a small much than halfway done nan pregnancy, Bi sewage a Facebook remark that frightened her. She had posted astir Smith getting a new, amended job; nan COO of ART Risk Solutions, an security agency, replied, suggesting that Bi double-check whether Smith’s caller argumentation would screen nan pregnancy. Outreach for illustration this wasn’t uncommon: The Facebook groups often teemed pinch manufacture professionals peddling their wares. The ART Risk COO offered to look into it.

While SAI’s modular process had wished that Smith’s caller security would screen nan pregnancy, ART Risk disagreed. Bi was spooked by what she saw arsenic SAI’s oversight connected a awesome issue: Pregnancy complications could rack up five- aliases six-figure bills. To Bi, nan group she had paid to guarantee her only son’s patient commencement seemed dormant astatine nan wheel. Since Bi alleged SAI had “made a mistake,” she demanded they salary for Smith’s backup security policy. When it stood by its appraisal and refused, Bi was irate.

She began posting astir SAI, sometimes aggregate times a day, to pass different IPs. Sometimes she said that Smith had told her astir nan occupation change, different times she claimed that Smith hadn’t notified her. She didn’t want to load Smith. “It’s not your fault,” she assured Smith, trying to protect her from nan accent while keeping her successful nan loop.

It seemed for illustration they were connected nan aforesaid page. “I conscionable dislike that it each happened!” Smith texted Bi. “I was truthful excited reasoning nan caller occupation was surrogate-friendly.” Bi was judge that if Smith had known otherwise, she wouldn’t person taken nan job.

It wasn’t astir nan money. Smith’s new, subsidized Affordable Care Act plan, astatine $391 a month, was a driblet successful nan bucket compared to nan estimated $200,000 Bi had budgeted for nan pregnancy. Bi told Smith that they would laic debased until Leon was calved and past spell aft SAI: “I want to show them what justness should look like.”

On December 15, a time connected which Bi sent her much than 50 texts astir nan insurance, Smith felt liquid betwixt her legs. She was 26 weeks pregnant and acrophobic her h2o had broken. The emergency room sent her home, telling her it wasn’t amniotic fluid. She should’ve been relieved, but she soon had different matter from Bi: One of Bi’s lawyers wanted Smith “to motion a fewer forms.” Smith had already signed a powerfulness of lawyer giving Bi and Valdeiglesias nan expertise to make decisions for Leon. Were they now asking for power complete her body? (Bi declined aggregate requests to show maine nan forms successful question.)

Smith confronted Bi gently. “I conjecture I’m a small confused,” she said. Bi and Valdeiglesias hadn’t been calling into immoderate of nan prenatal appointments wherever they could inquire questions. “What’s changed?”

“After your ER visit, I person tons of questions,” Bi replied. “For example, was it owed to nan accent of Friday’s security discussion? If not, what tin we do to forestall specified episodes truthful babe tin turn to afloat term?” By this point, Bi and Valdeiglesias had recovered a 2nd GC for Leon’s younger sister, and that process, Bi told Smith, was going overmuch much smoothly.

That day, Smith was backmost astatine nan session for follow-ups connected nan leaking. She’d already started taking precautions: sleeping connected her near broadside and drinking a gallon of h2o a day. Again, they told her it wasn’t amniotic fluid and that accent mightiness person been a contributor.

On January 1, 2024, 29 weeks pregnant, Smith texted Bi that she was successful nan ER again. This time, doctors confirmed that her h2o had broken. Smith was admitted to nan infirmary for IV antibiotics, monitoring, and steroids to thief create nan baby’s lungs. She was to enactment location until Leon was born.

Bi and Valdeiglesias had conscionable celebrated New Year’s Eve successful New York City. A fewer days later, Bi ordered Smith a building of boxes from Amazon: coconut water, freeze-dried cantaloupe slices. But Bi besides pestered Smith pinch questions: Why was she successful nan hospital, alternatively of conscionable connected bedrest astatine home? Was she submitting mislaid costs requests? Meanwhile, connected Facebook, Bi claimed that Smith had surgery their statement by not notifying her earlier changing jobs. A breach declare was serious. It meant that Smith was connected nan hook for immoderate bills that security didn’t cover—potentially million-dollar-plus sums that Bi acknowledged could bankrupt Smith. (Technically, Smith had notified them: She had a matter from Valdeiglesias congratulating her.)

The business reveals 1 of nan basal imbalances of surrogacy: When a surrogate breaks contract, her IPs tin extremity paying her and extremity paying nan aesculapian bills for her pregnancy. But if an IP breaks contract—say, by sharing their GC’s backstage accusation online aliases withholding compensation—a GC typically has to prosecute a lawyer. No matter what, IPs get nan babe astatine nan end. Anything other would beryllium considered babe trading and quality trafficking.

Bi started to judge thing was incorrect pinch Leon because of photos Smith posted. She looked slim, contempt being months along. You hardly look pregnant! a commenter wrote, approvingly. To Bi, this wasn’t a compliment. Everyone knew pregnant women had large bellies.

A fewer days into Smith’s hospitalization, Bi sewage news that seemed to push her complete nan edge. Smith phrased it for illustration it was a bully thing: Despite nan premature rupture of membranes, her doctors had told her that Leon was healthy, and a maturation scan estimated that he was successful nan 30th percentile. That didn’t sound right. The 30th percentile meant astir babies measured bigger than Leon. Smith was tall—shouldn’t that make a bigger baby, Bi wondered? She had expected her boy to beryllium supra mean successful each things.

Smith maintained that nan expert told her everything looked great. But Bi’s motherly intuition was going off. Something didn’t look correct pinch her son. She pressed on: Was Smith eating enough? Had she gained capable weight? “Small belly by itself, I brushed off,” Bi wrote. But “30th, h2o leak, mini belly, is Leon being suffocated and go defective already?”

Since Bi did not person Leon successful her body, wherever she could protect him and support him safe, she had to do everything she could from crossed nan country. She turned to Facebook groups and Google for second, third, and 4th opinions. On January 13, Bi emailed SAI asking for copies of Smith’s aesculapian records.

Bi—a nonstop communicator who prided herself connected her candor—asked her hubby if she was retired of line. Valdeiglesias assured her she wasn’t. “You’re conscionable caring for your baby,” he said. “Like conscionable what immoderate different mother would do.”

The hardest part of being hospitalized, Smith told Bi, was saying goodbye to her son, who cried whenever she had to leave. Bi had suggested that Ellis could enactment successful nan hospital. Ellis spent nan nighttime conscionable doubly successful those weeks, sleeping connected nan recliner meant for caller parents.

On 1 of those mornings, January 21, Smith woke up successful nan aforesaid room arsenic her sweet, protective, now 7-year-old son. Nurses came successful and did greeting monitoring. Leon had nary heartbeat.

When Bi got nan Facebook connection from an chartless woman, she thought it was a prank: “Call nan infirmary asap,” nan female wrote. It was Smith’s sister. “This is an emergency.”

Bi recorded her speech pinch nan hospital. The expert gave her condolences: She thought she’d seen a flicker successful 1 of Leon’s bosom valves and truthful rushed Smith into an emergency C-section. But Leon was already dead. The placenta had separated from Smith’s uterine wall, depriving Leon of oxygen. “Typically that leads to vaginal bleeding,” nan expert explained, “which she had not been having. She did astir 10 days ago.” They’d followed nan modular of attraction by trying to support Leon wrong Smith until 34 weeks gestation. But, she said, “these things conscionable hap sometimes. I don’t deliberation we’ll ever cognize precisely why, unfortunately.”

Later, Bi sewage a telephone from Smith, who had precocious woken up from wide anesthesia. Snotty-nosed, crying, Smith told her she past felt Leon moving that night. Bi was confused: Smith had told her that Leon was moving much during nan time and little astatine night. The telephone fastener was correct there, Bi thought. If Smith felt Leon move, why hadn’t she alerted nan nurses?

Bi and her hubby arranged for flights to spot their son’s body. She emailed SAI: Could nan aesculapian records beryllium fresh erstwhile she arrived astatine nan hospital? “I didn’t sleep,” Bi said, “I was contacting attorneys.”

Smith, meanwhile, had spent respective hours successful surgery. Placental abruptions are a awesome origin of maternal mortality. According to tribunal filings, she “lost a batch of humor and astir died.”

Now awake, sliced done her core, she held babe Leon. He weighed 3 pounds, 12 ounces—almost precisely mean for his gestational age. The kid that she’d carried for 7 months laic dormant successful her arms.

What shocked Bi, erstwhile she arrived astatine nan hospital, was nan joyousness she felt pinch her stillborn child. “He was a achromatic boy, conscionable for illustration his dad.” He had ray hair, a trim adjacent his near knee, and hard-looking fingernails. Bi photographed Leon successful a achromatic gown and diaper, holding a bluish crocheted heart. Bi would ne'er cognize nan colour of his eyes.

A caregiver told Bi that Smith was being discharged but wanted to speak to them. Bi said no; it was her clip pinch her boy earlier his autopsy. She did inquire for a database of Smith’s medications.

Eight days aft Leon died, Smith emailed Bi and Valdeiglesias. She understood they mightiness not want to talk, but her bosom was breaking, reasoning of them. “I will everlastingly transportation nan representation of your babe boy,” she wrote, “how his favourite spot to kick/punch was my correct rib and really he danced up a large wind whenever Ed Sheeran came on.”

Back location in San Francisco, Bi felt empty. She wandered nan sidewalks wherever she should’ve been pushing a stroller. Things were bad astatine home. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t work. Instead she dedicated each of her clip to taking screenshots and organizing folders of grounds to costs a aesculapian malpractice lawsuit.

She besides hired psychics to springiness her answers. As she tells it, they each blamed Smith. One suggested that an ex-boyfriend of Smith’s had turned her against Baby Leon. Another claimed to spot traumas connected Smith’s belly and said she was intelligibly having unsmooth sex. He warned: “She has thing to hide.” When Smith refused to merchandise her aesculapian records unless nonpregnancy accusation was redacted, Bi saw it arsenic confirmation that Smith was hiding important details.

Bi contacted SAI, claiming that Smith had breached statement by not informing her astir nan security alteration connected time, not taking her vitamins, and not alerting her earlier nan C-section. “Our statement specified a ‘well-baby’ that didn’t die,” she reminded them. Bi ordered nan escrow to extremity paying Smith aliases reimbursing her aesculapian expenses. A fewer days later, Bi re-listened to nan signaling of nan worst news of her life. She noticed a item she’d missed: Smith had bled 10 days anterior to Leon’s death. No 1 had told her.

SAI countered that location was “no documented bleed” connected nan day successful mobility but clarified that location was “some ray pinkish fluid which nan expert was not concerned about.” SAI said Smith asked nan doctors to show Bi directly, and that nan statement gave Smith 2 weeks to show Bi. “That’s emergency information,” Bi said. “She should person told maine correct away.” If Bi had been told, she believed that Leon would beryllium alive. She would’ve insisted connected a C-section immediately.

Many stillbirth advocates judge that American doctors do not return nan consequence of stillbirth seriously, that nan standards of attraction are often woefully inadequate, and that calculations astir erstwhile to present a babe disregard consequence factors. After losing a baby, women are often told, arsenic Bi was, that these things “just happen.” Stillbirths return astir 21,000 American children per year—more than guns, car accidents, abrupt babe decease syndrome, cancer, and fires combined.

Leon’s decease “was 100 percent, 1,000 percent preventable,” Bi told me, anguished. Searching for meaning, she started attending Epic Church (known for hosting high-profile VCs). At 1 discussion, participants talked astir “when God gives you a mission.” Bi sobbed. “I don’t want this mission, I want my son,” she thought. Upon reflection, though, she became hopeful. She thanked God for giving her trauma, because He believed she could grip it. “I will do my champion to make judge it won’t hap to different people,” she promised herself. She would go her son’s voice. “I'll make judge different unborn children are protected.”

In her grief, Bi pieced together her type of events: During nan pregnancy, Smith had engaged successful “lots of unsafe sex.” A bout of “forceful sex” led to her leaking successful mid-December. More activity yet necessitated her hospitalization. Smith had fto her “adult-sized” boy slumber successful her bed, wherever he’d astir apt kicked her successful nan stomach. Smith whitethorn person moreover intentionally fixed commencement early, mistakenly believing she’d person afloat compensation.

At nan proposal of her lawyer, Bi hired a backstage investigator. A reverse reside lookup suggested a man shared Smith’s address—whose sanction Bi was judge had to beryllium Smith’s (supposedly ex) partner. He was Black, and nan PI’s study described him arsenic having been charged pinch 2 misdemeanors. Bi believed Smith should person ne'er been a surrogate pinch an “undisclosed live-in fellow pinch #felony JAIL TIME record,” arsenic she put it online. The PI dug up a flyer advertizing a New Year’s Eve statement listing nan man arsenic 1 of nan DJs, seemingly confirming Bi’s lawyer’s suspicion astir what Smith had been doing nan nighttime earlier her hospitalization.

Bi was fresh to o.k. an in-person surveillance cognition erstwhile different item froze her blood: Smith had gotten a speeding summons connected a time she was inpatient astatine nan hospital. As Bi would declare online, connected January 13, Smith had “snuck out” pinch her son, gone 40 miles per hr successful a 25-mile-per-hour zone, past “snuck backmost into” nan hospital. The very adjacent day, Smith had knowledgeable “profuse vaginal bleeding” for “at slightest 5 hours.” In hindsight, Smith’s behaviour appeared “weird” and “defensive”: The time aft nan bleed, Smith had asked Bi to extremity posting.

Bi understood really far-fetched her allegations sounded. “If it were not for each nan difficult evidence, it’s excessively shocking to judge [Rebecca Smith] did what she did to termination my son,” Bi wrote connected Facebook, utilizing Smith’s existent name. Perhaps a benignant friend could person suggested to Bi that location were different explanations. Instead, Bi had a group of ineligible adversaries and a supportive echo chamber. On Facebook, GCs and IPs alike expressed sympathy for Bi’s tragic posts: Everyone knew bad surrogates existed, and based connected Bi’s claims, it sounded for illustration Smith was one. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, a Bay Area fertility expert and influencer, called Smith “a criminal” and “a psycho.” Bi’s $1,275-an-hour lawyer, Elizabeth Sperling, wondered whether digging done societal media posts mightiness show Smith engaging successful “strenuous activity” that could explicate nan death.

Bi’s hubby focused connected stabilizing nan family, a move he credits pinch redeeming their marriage. He blamed nan hospital, not Smith, but told maine that nan litigation is “her grieving process.” He tried to enactment retired of nan ineligible worldly truthful that Bi couldn’t blasted him too.

Smith had planned to spell backmost to activity soon aft giving birth. Instead, she couldn’t extremity bleeding. Even though SAI had wished she hadn’t breached nan contract, nan escrow stopped paying, leaving Smith reliant connected disablement benefits arsenic she faced an expanding heap of terrifying bills.

When Smith was yet cleared to return to work, a period aft Leon died, Bi emailed Smith’s HR section to inquire astir her wellness plan. Bi besides reported Smith to a national agency, claiming that Smith was committing fraud. The accent connected Smith was already high: Her supervisor astatine activity had recovered her crying connected and disconnected for a day.

Smith hadn’t heard from Bi since her terse reply to nan condolence email. Then, Bi texted her a screenshot of a Facebook station astir different GC who’d had an abruption astatine almost 32 weeks—but that GC had called 911 and nan babe had lived.

Next, Bi iMessaged a photograph of Leon’s corpse to Smith’s 7-year-old son’s iPad.

In nan months aft Leon died, Bi:

Called nan FBI 12 times. Reported Smith, SAI, nan hospital, and Clarity escrow to much than a twelve authorities and national regulators and galore master organizations. Launched a caller information of her $30 cardinal task fund, backed by Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, President Trump’s “AI and crypto czar,” connected Leon’s owed date. Posted Leon’s ChatGPT-written endorsement from heaven, offering his “eternal blessings” for her work. Created TikToks, Instagram Reels, Facebook posts, X threads, LinkedIn Updates, and a website for her advocacy. Posted Smith’s afloat name, photo, employer, owe licence number, son’s first name, and a nexus to her address. Asked her husband, again and again, really it was imaginable that Smith had carried her boy but felt “nothing” astir his death.

Bi has abandonment issues that she traces backmost to her twenties, erstwhile her begetter divided her mom for nan mistress who’d conceived his long-awaited son. She sewage connected lithium for her bipolar upset successful early 2021 and began looking for surrogates arsenic soon arsenic she stopped emotion “sedated.” I said to nan therapist Bi hired to consult pinch her and Valdeiglesias. She told maine that, of nan 792 intended parents she has evaluated for surrogacy aliases gamete aid successful nan past decade, she has declined to urge only astir a dozen. “I’m not gatekeeping,” she said. When it comes to superior intelligence illness, she added, it’s up to them to disclose. One of Bi’s fertility doctors, meanwhile, told maine it’s not his spot to scrutinize intended parents. He defers to nan proposal of nan psychological interviewer.

If an intended genitor gets turned down, they tin usually find different therapist, different clinic, different agency. But without anyone questioning her plans, Bi seemed betrayed by nan challenges of third-party reproduction. “Surrogacy is expected to beryllium nan safest route,” she wrote connected Instagram. It wasn’t conscionable Leon’s decease that pushed Bi into her spiral of ineligible action and societal media posts. It was nan evident deficiency of power of having her kid wrong different woman’s body—the astir basal truth of surrogacy.

On Facebook, strangers started calling for Smith to rot successful jailhouse and suffer custody of her son. She and her family feared online vigilantes would hunt retired nan female Bi portrayed arsenic a profit-minded babe killer. Smith’s parents bought information cameras for her car, past Smith moved backmost successful pinch her son’s father, past moved again. She changed jobs, hoping to spare her mini agency nan chaos. Bi contacted Smith’s adjacent employer too, saying Smith had been fired for fraud and lied connected her application. Smith’s sister feared violence.

Smith had suicidal thoughts. She wondered if her boy would beryllium amended disconnected if she were dead, if that meant Bi would ne'er nonstop him different disturbing message.

In June, Bi sued Smith and nan different parties she blamed for Leon’s death. When a judge ruled that Bi had to travel nan original statement and do backstage arbitration alternatively of a nationalist lawsuit, she spent $25,000 appealing nan decision. One time astatine work, successful beforehand of her caller colleagues, a man served Smith papers naming Bi and Valdeiglesias arsenic Leon’s parents. Smith’s pro bono lawyer advised her to admit nan papers without realizing that Bi’s lawyer—the hubby of Bi’s psych consultant—had added a conception forcing Smith to merchandise her aesculapian records. After different tribunal battle, nan judge threw retired that requirement.

Whatever loophole existed, Bi would find it. If Smith relaxed, she would return advantage. “The only extremity she had was to destruct my life,” Smith wrote successful a tribunal document: to get her fired from her occupation truthful she couldn’t support her son. To person her down bars. To bankrupt her. To make it truthful Smith could ne'er beryllium astatine bid while Leon was dead.

In nan fall of 2024, Bi was served papers. Smith had revenge a restraining order. Smith maintained that she’d been azygous and lived unsocial pinch her son; she’d ne'er “snuck out” of nan hospital—nurses permitted her to spell location to prime up an obscure vitamin Bi had asked her to take; nan doctors had advised her not to create other accent by telling Bi astir nan insignificant bleeding; she’d asked SAI to pass Bi astir it. Smith’s supporters said that aft nan stillbirth, she’d volunteered astatine nan Ronald McDonald House for nan NICU, sponsored a golden leafage connected a character for angel babies, pumped and donated her breastmilk to provender vulnerable babies successful Leon’s honor.

Bi recovered these claims ridiculous. “She kidnapped and killed my son.”

“I americium nan unfortunate here,” Bi told maine repeatedly. Being a “single mom,” she said, “doesn’t springiness you nan correct to termination different son. You don’t person that unfortunate paper to play.” She was almost screaming erstwhile she said it. Bi explains complete and complete her belief that surrogates clasp each of nan power. There are acold much intended parents than surrogates—between 3 and 10 times arsenic many—and IPs are, arsenic Bi put it online, successful “such a disadvantaged position.” Once a GC has nan embryo wrong of them, they tin harm nan baby. Therefore, IPs are astatine their whim.

Bi sees a exemplary for surrogacy successful nan antiabortion laws that “recognize and protect nan correct of a fetal life.” The baby, she believes, should travel first. Bi thinks that erstwhile doctors spot surrogates spell against aesculapian advice, they should study it to nan police.

Bi isn’t anti-surrogacy—in fact, she often advises different investors who are pursuing it and sends maine links to startup aft startup. Sheel Mohnot, a task capitalist friend of Bi’s who has commissioned twiblings, said nan problem is that accusation is siloed erstwhile “each agency has their ain database of wombs.” In this model, surrogates are nan gestational equivalents of Uber drivers aliases Amazon storage workers. “There should beryllium a database of carriers allowing america to select connected what we want: age, BMI, willingness to abort nan fetus,” Mohnot said.

Six months after Leon’s death, Bi’s girl was born. In an Instagram announcement, Bi sits successful a infirmary recliner wearing a aesculapian gown, clutching a newborn to her chest. Bi often compared her 2 surrogacy experiences—“I had nan world’s worst GC, and nan best”—and told maine for months that everything pinch Chelsea Sanabria had been easy and smooth.

Not quite. Sanabria told maine she had a awesome narration pinch Bi but a gestation plagued pinch placental issues: first, gestational diabetes; past placenta previa, wherever nan placenta blocks nan cervix, which led to a hospitalization and a scheduled C-section. When doctors removed nan baby, they recovered that nan placenta had grown excessively profoundly into her uterine wall, a information known arsenic placenta accreta. Once they removed nan placenta, Sanabria began losing blood. As a nursing student and diligent attraction technician, she knew what was going connected arsenic they called retired numbers of humor loss—ultimately an astounding 5.4 liters. “The weirdest portion was being awake” while she was dying, she said. An emergency hysterectomy saved her life. She woke up 9 hours later, intubated, successful nan ICU.

A 2024 survey recovered that people conceived pregnancies transportation astir a 2 percent consequence of respective adverse maternal events. A surrogate gestation increases that to almost 8 percent. Nobody had talked to Sanabria astir these risks. Now, she posts online to amended different surrogates.

As Bi pointed retired many times successful her quest to get Leon’s placental slides, nan placenta comes from nan DNA of nan biologic parents—hers and Valdeiglesias’. In fact, Bi’s mother and sister developed glucosuria while pregnant, an rumor stemming from nan placenta, and remained diabetic. Valdeiglesias told maine that his aunt had her h2o break early, but everything was fine.

But Bi and Valdeiglesias’s family aesculapian histories were not disclosed to their surrogates. This is normal. If Bi and Valdeiglesias person a 3rd child, they almost surely won’t disclose their gestation complications.

“Imagine a journey being treated for illustration a quality incubator and not for illustration a person,” Smith wrote successful a Facebook group for GCs. “Imagine a travel wherever nan intended parents time off you to salary each of nan aesculapian bills.”

Hundreds of thousands of dollars of aesculapian bills are successful Smith’s name, which could wreck her credit. Smith’s employer-provided security initially agreed to salary but revoked sum aft Bi emailed them alleging fraud. Now, nan scheme Bi bought isn’t paying retired either. Bi maintains that Smith is responsible. Just arsenic Bi warned successful a Facebook group, nan bills could bankrupt Smith.

During a Zoom proceeding past December, Bi considered mercy. Perhaps Smith had suffered enough; possibly Bi had already achieved a shape of justice. Inspired pinch grace, Bi said she made an offer: If Smith dropped nan restraining bid and allowed Bi to talk freely astir her, utilizing her afloat name, Bi wouldn’t prosecute criminal charges.

Smith’s lawyer refused, truthful Bi contacted section police. (In Virginia, constabulary person investigated gestation losses and put a stillbirth mom down bars.) If that fails, Bi hopes to nail Smith for perjury based connected nan “lies” successful her restraining bid application. In bid to debar a imperishable restraining order, Bi signed a court-enforced confidentiality statement not to talk astir Smith. But Bi now views that statement arsenic toothless. It appears nothing—not moreover nan specter of being recovered successful contempt of court—will extremity Bi from sharing her truth. Though it’s highly unlikely, Bi could moreover spell to jail: There’s an apprehension warrant retired for Bi successful Virginia for doxing Smith.

So far, Bi has worked pinch 9 different attorneys. She racked up almost $750,000 successful ineligible bills successful 2024 but paid little than half; nan rule patient wherever Elizabeth Sperling works, owed $200,000, said it “intends to initiate a proceeding”; her appeals lawyer, besides owed $200,000, keeps threatening to nonstop her to collections. “I cannot salary you because if I do, past I cannot get different lawyer,” Bi explained. She needs nan money to salary her adjacent retainer. Lawyers ne'er inquire Bi astir money: “They spot my floor plan and they presume I tin pay.”

But Bi tells maine she’s rate poor. Although Bi had an eight-figure nett worthy earlier Leon’s death, astir of it was illiquid stakes successful companies. She has rent to salary ($10,000 a month) and childcare (her sixth live-in nanny). She had to retreat her guidance fees for her finance money overmuch faster than planned. Bi hasn’t worked overmuch since Leon died, but she doesn’t cognize really she tin proceed arsenic a task capitalist if she backs down. “If I cannot protect my son,” Bi says, “if I cannot springiness him honor, writer nan hellhole retired of these people, and person immoderate consciousness of justness … really tin nan finance founders say, ‘Cindy, you’re nan best’?”

Just erstwhile it seemed for illustration Bi mightiness not beryllium capable to stomach, aliases afford, much lawsuits, she recovered personification who would correspond her without charging hourly. “Pitbull attorney” Doug Rochen has nan kind, unfastened look of a Midwestern pastor. He’s gotten eight-figure payouts for abused foster children and mistreated prisoners and specializes successful intersexual maltreatment cases. Bi says Rochen will writer nan doctors and nan infirmary for malpractice and prosecute arbitration against Rebecca Smith, SAI, and different parties successful speech for 40 percent of Bi’s winnings.

Meanwhile, Bi and her hubby person been hunting for their 3rd surrogate. In nan spring, Bi emailed pinch The Biggest Ask agency astir “a awesome surrogate profile”: different azygous mother, of two, who lives pinch her parents. But she hesitated: Should she springiness her girl a small sister aliases usage nan money to “pursue justice” for her son? “I conscionable can’t propulsion nan trigger,” Bi told me. Not yet.

Let america cognize what you deliberation astir this article. Submit a missive to nan editor at mail@wired.com.