Bi understood how far-fetched her allegations sounded. “If it weren’t for all of the laborious proof, it’s too surprising to imagine [Rebecca Smith] did what she did to kill my son,” Bi wrote on Fb, utilizing Smith’s actual title. Maybe a sort good friend might have recommended to Bi that there have been different explanations. As a substitute, Bi had a set of authorized adversaries and a supportive echo chamber. On Fb, GCs and IPs alike expressed sympathy for Bi’s tragic posts: Everybody knew unhealthy surrogates existed, and primarily based on Bi’s claims, it appeared like Smith was one. Aimee Eyvazzadeh, a Bay Space fertility physician and influencer, referred to as Smith “a felony” and “a psycho.” Bi’s $1,275-an-hour lawyer, Elizabeth Sperling, puzzled whether or not digging via social media posts may present Smith partaking in “strenuous exercise” that would clarify the loss of life.
Bi’s husband centered on stabilizing the household, a transfer he credit with saving their marriage. He blamed the hospital, not Smith, however informed me that the litigation is “her grieving course of.” He tried to remain out of the authorized stuff in order that Bi couldn’t blame him too.
Smith had deliberate to return to work shortly after giving delivery. As a substitute, she couldn’t cease bleeding. Though SAI had decided she hadn’t breached the contract, the escrow stopped paying, leaving Smith reliant on incapacity advantages as she confronted an rising pile of terrifying payments.
When Smith was lastly cleared to return to work, a month after Leon died, Bi emailed Smith’s HR division to ask about her well being plan. Bi additionally reported Smith to a federal company, claiming that Smith was committing fraud. The stress on Smith was already excessive: Her supervisor at work had discovered her crying on and off for a day.
Smith hadn’t heard from Bi since her terse reply to the condolence electronic mail. Then, Bi texted her a screenshot of a Fb put up about one other GC who’d had an abruption at virtually 32 weeks—however that GC had referred to as 911 and the child had lived.
Subsequent, Bi iMessaged a photograph of Leon’s corpse to Smith’s 7-year-old son’s iPad.
Within the months after Leon died, Bi:
Known as the FBI 12 instances. Reported Smith, SAI, the hospital, and Readability escrow to greater than a dozen state and federal regulators and quite a few skilled organizations. Launched a brand new spherical of her $30 million enterprise 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, providing his “everlasting blessings” for her work. Created TikToks, Instagram Reels, Fb posts, X threads, LinkedIn Updates, and an internet site for her advocacy. Posted hyperlinks disclosing Smith’s full title, picture, handle, employer, mortgage license quantity, and son’s first title to her web site. Requested her husband, time and again, the way it was attainable that Smith had carried her son however felt “nothing” about his loss of life.
Bi has abandonment points that she traces again to her twenties, when her father divorced her mother for the mistress who’d conceived his long-awaited son. She acquired on lithium for her bipolar dysfunction in early 2021 and commenced on the lookout for surrogates as quickly as she stopped feeling “sedated.” I spoke to the therapist Bi employed to seek the advice of along with her and Valdeiglesias. She informed me that, of the 792 supposed dad and mom she has evaluated for surrogacy or gamete donation within the final decade, she has declined to suggest solely a couple of dozen. “I’m not gatekeeping,” she stated. In terms of critical psychological sickness, she added, it’s as much as them to reveal. Considered one of Bi’s fertility medical doctors, in the meantime, informed me it’s not his place to scrutinize supposed dad and mom. He defers to the advice of the psychological interviewer.
If an supposed mother or father will get turned down, they will normally discover one other therapist, one other clinic, one other company. However with out anybody questioning her plans, Bi appeared betrayed by the challenges of third-party replica. “Surrogacy is meant to be the most secure route,” she wrote on Instagram. It wasn’t simply Leon’s loss of life that pushed Bi into her spiral of authorized motion and social media posts. It was the obvious lack of management of getting her youngster inside one other lady’s physique—probably the most fundamental truth of surrogacy.