'We were deceived' Hopeful Parents Say They're Targeted by Surrogacy Fraud- Hundreds of parents-to-be entrusted a financial services firm with millions of dollars to pay for surrogacy. Now they're struggling to achieve their baby dreams

Hundreds of parents-to-be entrusted a financial services firm with millions of dollars to pay for surrogacy. Now they're struggling to achieve their baby dreams. A lawsuit filed in June on behalf of 34 families and individuals, including Iacuzzo, claims that SEAM owner Dominique Side, 44, allegedly “lured” victims into entering into a fiduciary relationship with the company in order to steal some $11 million in escrow funds.

- By K. C. Baker, Diane Herbst- Photographas by Gesi Schilling

Hearing her baby’s heartbeat for the first time during a June 10 ultrasound brought Marisa Iacuzzo to tears. “It was surreal,” she says—and a dream come true. For as long as she could remember, the 46-year-old medical sales rep from Orlando had wanted to become a mother. “I always envisioned having a family but was waiting for the right partner,” she says of her decision in 2017 to have her eggs frozen for use in IVF. But five years later she was diagnosed with hormone-sensitive breast cancer and treated with surgery and radiation therapy. When her oncologist recommended that she not pursue IVF, which requires large doses of hormones, Iacuzzo explored other options. Last year she made arrangements with a gestational carrier—a married 33-year-old mother of two in Florida—to carry an embryo formed with Iacuzzo’s egg and donor sperm. Finally, in the exam room this past June, she let out a sigh of relief when the doctor said her 6-week-old fetus was healthy. “I thought, ‘Everything’s going to work out.’”

Special Relationship. “To have a surrogate who wants to be on this journey with you is such a blessing”, says Iacuzzo.