IN THE MONTHS after Leon died, Bi (intended parent)
Called the FBI 12 times. Reported Smith (surrogate) SAI (agency), the hospital, and Clarity escrow to more than a dozen state and federal regulators and numerous professional organizations. Launched a new round of her $30 million venture fund, backed by Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, President Trump’s “AI and crypto czar,” on Leon’s due 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 links disclosing surrogate Smith’s full name, photo, address, employer, mortgage license number, and son’s first name to her website |
That may be true but they FAFO because the crazy parent is now suing the agency too. |
I found this part of the article to be the most shocking:
Although America is the world leader in surrogacy, it’s also the developed nation with the highest maternal mortality rate and one of the highest stillbirth rates, a situation described by many as “a public health crisis.” Compared to natural conception, carrying a genetically unrelated fetus more than triples the risk of severe, potentially deadly conditions, a statistic surrogates are rarely given.” |
The horrific power imbalances here remind me of the stories in the 2024 book Relinquished by Gretchen Sisson, looking at the modern domestic infant adoption industry from the perspective of the relinquishing birth mothers. It's an eye opening read. |
I’d be sick to my stomach if someone lost their uterus as a result of carrying my child. This IP is a nasty, nasty piece of work. |
Yeah what got me was the bit about the surrogate was tall so shouldn't the baby be taller than 30th percentile. Like...do you know how genetics work lol. |
It makes logical sense. We don’t value maternal healthcare in this country, and we allow commercial surrogacy. Those two facts are irrevocably intertwined. Countries that disallow surrogacy have better maternal healthcare outcomes, because they start by caring about pregnant women more. We don’t care about pregnant women and so we allow commercial surrogacy. |
That book was absolutely heartbreaking. |
The one negative thing I will say about the surrogate is this: No one goes into COMMERCIAL surrogacy with a plan to pay off their student loans just because "Oh I saw my friend have a hard time conceiving and I want to help people." If she were doing this from the goodness of her heart she wouldn't have taken the shady "reimbursements." It's not like she was a broke single mom. She is very easily findable and she has a job that pays well in a low cost of living area. So, let's just call a spade a spade, she wanted to make money.
That being said, yeah, Cindy Bi is mentally ill and a nightmare of a human being. |
I wouldn’t discount the power of the marketing that the surrogacy agencies do. They really sell it as a way to “help make a family” while doing things like paying off student loans. You should see some of the marketing materials for these agencies; they are almost dystopian. The agencies work very hard to elide the fact of the payment, in part because they want to exploit the surrogates and in part because a lot of surrogates won’t do it unless they actually believe they are making a family. |
But the surrogate didn't promise to do this from the goodness of her heart. It's expensive to be pregnant, it wears on your body and it's risky. The article said clearly that the woman did this to pay off student loans and build a nest egg of savings as a single mother. Instead she is now saddled with hundreds of thousands in medical bills, because crazy Intended parent lady said she commited fraud as a surrogate, and her insurance refused to pay. |
Yes, I know it said that, that's why I mentioned that in my post. I was referring to this:
Just say you want the money for student loans. |
Both things can be true. It could be that she did it 90% for the money, and 10% to give someone the joy of having a kid. That doesn't invalidate that she wanted the parents who couldn't carry a child to have one. |
The manipulative “help a sad family” narrative is something these agencies really push. It stops surrogates from actually calculating the cost and also makes it distasteful for them to bargain. It is so incredibly gross, cynical, snd exploitative. |
+1 This was a financial transaction. |