Women caught trying to sell babies

Three women involved in an illegal baby-selling scheme issued illegal fertility drugs and defrauded California of healthcare benefits, federal prosecutors said.
Fertility lawyer Theresa M. Erickson, Carla Chambers and Hilary Neiman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July and August and are awaiting sentencing.
The three are accused of coercing women to travel to Ukraine to be implanted with embryos in exchange for $35,000 to $45,000. California couples were then solicited to adopt the babies for $100,000 to $150,000.
They were told the original parents backed out of the surrogacy deal to get around a California law that says a surrogate agreement must be signed before pregnancy.
Federal prosecutors filed documents last week showing the women distributed fertility drugs illegally obtained from Ukraine and filed paperwork for a state healthcare program for women who hadn’t lived in California for a mandatory six months, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.
Los Angeles lawyer Andrew Vorzimer said California — one of the few states to allow couples not biologically related to a child to be listed on a birth certificate — must change its surrogacy laws to prevent similar schemes.