Customers of UK-owned surrogacy firm in Mexico allegedly face huge bills after insurance denied

The UK government has said it is reviewing allegations about a British-owned surrogacy service after surrogates in Mexico who faced health complications including a hysterectomy had their insurance claims rejected.

The Department of Health and Social Care is considering whether the UK-based provider My Surrogacy Journey should remain listed on gov.uk as one of four domestic surrogacy agencies available to intended parents, after its Mexican sister company received complaints.

Emails sent by the chief executive of My Surrogacy Journey seen by the Guardian suggest multiple surrogate women had their insurance claims rejected in Mexico, where the surrogates are based. The emails suggest 300 couples going through a “surrogacy journey” with the company have been moved to a new insurance provider due to the increased risk of claims being rejected.

In the UK, commercial surrogacy is banned and only altruistic surrogacy arrangements are permitted. My Surrogacy Journey has a UK branch which is not-for-profit, and also has for-profit sister companies operating in Mexico and the US, where commercial surrogacy is legal in some states. All three companies have the same owners and chief executives. It is My Surrogacy Journey’s Mexico-based surrogacies which have had insurance issues.

One couple the Guardian spoke to said they paid tens of thousands of pounds to cover the medical costs of their surrogate who had a hysterectomy during birth after her insurance claim was refused.

My Surrogacy Journey was founded in 2021 by the couple Michael and Wes Johnson-Ellis, both from Birmingham, who set it up after having their own children via surrogacy.

The couple, now based in the Cayman Islands, say their company is a “UK surrogacy organisation like no other” with “one of the most enviable advisory boards for a surrogacy not-for-profit organisation” and that it is the “new face of surrogacy”.

The Guardian understands at least five sets of parents say they had to foot the bill for medical costs after insurance claims were refused.

An email seen by the Guardian sent by Michael Johnson-Ellis to the couple whose surrogate had a hysterectomy said: “We have already told you that the insurance companies have been declining some of the claims and we are actively working with the broker to get this issue resolved but you should also consider that they may not be paid out and there is nothing we are able to do to change this ... We appreciate this is not an insignificant sum but this genuinely is out of our control.”

Johnson-Ellis added in the email that the company had switched to a new insurance provider, explaining: “We’re also managing this for 300 other journeys, which is a complex position to be in.”

Lawyers acting for My Surrogacy Journey said the company did not comment on individual cases, but that existing insurance policies were in place and claims continued to be accepted and processed. They said the company was of the understanding that a small number of claims were rejected and was supporting those seeking to resolve claims with an insurer.

It is understood that as part of the surrogacy arrangement intended parents are contractually required to cover any medical costs that may not be covered by an insurer.

The couple who spoke to the Guardian reported being recommended to take the “Mexico option”. The website advertises that those who go to Mexico can have a baby in “under 18 months”. The parents say they were told the UK option can take up to five years, and that the US route is much more expensive. Lawyers acting for My Surrogacy Journey said that intended or prospective parents were provided with information about what the surrogacy process entails, including typical timelines, cost, legal frameworks and practical considerations in a transparent and understandable way, and that the 18-month period is indicative only.

The couple described their dream of having a baby turning into a nightmare when their surrogate developed a serious condition known as placenta accreta, which is when the placenta attaches to the wall of the uterus.

The emails from Johnson-Ellis acknowledge that the insurance provider investigated the birth after the woman’s health complications. One email reads: “As your surrogate’s care took an unexpected turn, this later led to even more scrutiny by the hospital and insurance provider – which we have no control over.”

The parents are considering legal action, and the Guardian understands at least four other couples are reviewing their options.

Phil Brickell, the MP for Bolton West, raised the concerns of a separate couple who had used My Surrogacy Journey. He told parliament during a debate regarding surrogacy on Monday: “Two of my constituents recently travelled to Mexico, where their children were born by surrogacy. Those births were facilitated by a company called My Surrogacy Journey, which is listed on gov.uk. While in Mexico, they had repeated traumatic experiences with the company relating to issues including insurance for their children, accusations of bullying towards staff and repeated efforts to silence any constructive criticism. I understand that other members of this house have received similar complaints.”

Brickell is calling for the government to “take My Surrogacy Journey down from gov.uk pending a review by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority”.

The health minister Diana Johnson said the government was reviewing allegations made regarding My Surrogacy Journey. She said: “The department is looking into the allegations about My Surrogacy Journey. As part of that assessment, the department will consider whether it is appropriate for that company to remain on the gov.uk list of agencies”. A DHSC spokesperson confirmed to the Guardian that the government was reviewing allegations about My Surrogacy Journey. Lawyers acting for My Surrogacy Journey said the company was in communication with DHSC and it was confident any issues could be resolved.

Dr Bianca Jackson, a surrogacy law expert at Coram Chambers, said the case highlighted by the Guardian seemed “incredibly worrying”. She said: “For the past 13 years, I have acted for intended parents applying for parental orders for children born in many different countries. Though I have come across a plethora of issues with agencies abroad, I have never come across this problem in practice. My experience suggests that this is not a wide or prevalent issue with surrogacy abroad and it is limited to Mexico/the organisation you are investigating, but it is still incredibly worrying.”

The London-based surrogacy consultant Shaun Thomas, who founded The Surrogacy Father after his own experience having children via surrogate, said insurance could get “very complicated”, especially when it involved third-party reproduction like IVF and navigating healthcare systems abroad.

He said intended parents needed to make sure their insurance covered both the surrogate and the baby, adding that some policies did not always include neonatal intensive care unit admission or may exclude certain hospitals.

Lawyers acting for My Surrogacy Journey said the health and wellbeing of surrogates and babies as well as that of intended parents was at the core of its values.