"Who do we hand the baby to?" Loopholes and shady practices taint U.S. surrogacy industry

Lured by an ad on Instagram promising a hefty payout, Andrea, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras living in California, decided to explore becoming a surrogate mother.

After some agencies expressed concerns about her immigration status, she found one that said yes. Before signing the agreement, she asked the firm, San Diego-based Creating Your Dreams Surrogacy, to set up a video introduction call with the young couple seeking to become parents. It was that call, Andrea said, that convinced her to make the complicated decision, as a single mother of two, to carry another couple's child.