Apex couple says they're out more than $70K in alleged surrogacy escrow scheme
APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- Chris and Chen Perkins Yan are devastated after they say the money they spent years saving to pay for a surrogate to carry their child is gone.
The couple met in New York City in 2017 after bumping into each other on the street, and they ended up spending the whole night talking. They connected early on over all kinds of things, but wanting a family was toward the top of the list.
"I know I want a kid and he's really interested to have kids too, and I think this is why we are on the same page. So, at the very beginning we decide in the future -- we will have kid," Chen told ABC11.
Roughly a year later, they were married. Soon, they were ready to focus on the next step.
Between the wait times for adoptions and the desire for children who were biologically related, they decided surrogacy was the best option for their family. They decided they wanted to have two children, both from the same egg donor, and they'd use sperm from Chen for one child and sperm from Chris for the other.
They knew surrogacy would be expensive.
"We made sure we were ready to be able to take that financial burden of surrogacy," Chris said. "Then, obviously children are expensive, so we want to make sure we were set so that they could have everything that we could possibly give them."
Surrogacy is a long process.
The Perkins Yans had to find an agency, an egg donor, and a woman who could carry their child. They also had to find an escrow company that could hold the money to reimburse their surrogate for her pregnancy-related expenses as well, which cost them around $71,000.
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Finally, many years later, everything fell into place. In May of this year, it was time to transfer the embryo.
"That day, I think it's the best day in my life," Chen said.
"Never been happier than the moment we found out that we did the embryo transfer," Chris said. "Then, it's just like somebody drops a brick."
Something was wrong.
Their surrogate reached out to them saying she had yet to be reimbursed for her travel expenses to drive out to North Carolina for her embryo transfer, as she lives in another state. That money was supposed to come from the escrow account, but when they reached out to the escrow company, they realized it was likely gone.
"We sent the money and she walked away with it," Chris told ABC11.
A woman named Dominque Side is the owner of their Houston-based escrow company, SEAM. She's now alleged to have stolen millions of dollars from clients across the country - money that was meant to cover surrogacy expenses.
"She used our money, for our future, for our dreams. That's not OK, and this is not the first time it happened," Chen said.
Alleged victims of the fraud claim in court filings that side transferred millions of client funds to bankroll her lavish lifestyle and other ventures, including a music career and a clothing line.
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In a statement, Side said she and her company are "subject to an active investigation by federal authorities" and "under advice of counsel," she is "not permitted to respond to any inquiries regarding the investigation."
The FBI posted a call for information, asking for those who say they lost money in this alleged scheme to come forward.
Others are in the process of filing lawsuits to try to get it back - Chris and Chen don't think they can.
"Hiring a lawyer is not cheap," Chen said, adding that they're concerned about spending even more money on a lawsuit that might not even recover any of the missing funds.
In the meantime, they say their surrogate agreed they could pay her directly moving forward. They're grateful she's willing to work with them. They have to find a way to pay her around $7,000 per month. They're both engineers, but Chen needed to pick up a second job to make it work. Chen said he works almost 20 hours a day at times to make ends meet.
Chris spends all his spare time working to find a way to recover the missing money. He has been working with their bank, insurance company, and even reaching out to the Attorney General. They've had no luck so far.
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Even though they aren't sure they'll ever see that money again, they're staying focused on the one thing that matters most.
"I'm still going to have a baby. Yes. I'm still going to have a baby. No matter what happened, I will have a baby. It's a baby girl. Yes. I could not be more excited about that," Chen said.
Their surrogate is due in February, and they just got their first ultrasound. Their plans for their second child are on hold right now.
