ConceiveAbilities

I signed up with this company as a donor to help a couple in need of having children. I felt great about my decision and was more than happy to be able to provide such an amazing gift to someone that was less fortunate. I dealt with ConceiveAbilities at least once a week (often several times a week) to schedule appointments and so forth for about 8 months. Everything was going great and I felt very well-​informed throughout the whole process until the very end. After taking shots for weeks and getting my blood drawn every few days, I went in for one of my last appointments and the doctors told me I was not producing enough eggs and they would have to call off the process. Upset from all the work I had put in and being on hormone shots, I had so many questions and concerns running through my head. At that point, the doctors and nurses insisted that any questions I had needed to be taken up with ConceiveAbilities, and not the hospital. Not only did I feel complete embarrassment and guilt for not being able to produce eggs for my intended parents, but I also had no idea what was going to happen with my OWN body. I had all these eggs inside me (however not enough to use for donation) that I had to expel on my own. When I got home later that day my case manager for ConceiveAbilities contacted me to answer any questions. While semi-​sympathetic to the situation, she shortly answered my questions and told me she would get back to me later in the week about the amount of money I would be given. My main concern was about my body and whether I would be healthy enough to ever donate again because I would be so upset to go through this whole process again just to disappoint another couple (who are paying a LOT of money for this) and myself. ConceiveAbilities never contacted me again after sending my check in the mail, only leaving me with more confusions and questions still about if I could donate again and just the general health of my body. I will probably never donate again because I’m too scared for this same situation to happen. Overall, I was very disappointed with how I was treated by this company. It has been four months since my surgery was cancelled and I have yet to hear a word from them besides an email regarding my pay. If I did donate again I know 100 percent I would not go through this company.

Our experience working with ConceiveAbilities:
My wife and I started working with ConceiveAbilities in January and ended our relationship with this agency in August. We are reviewing this agency to help others make an informed choice. Our review covers four of the more frustrating challenges we encountered: (1) the agency failed to provide accurate information to both us and to our attorney, including not providing sections of the contract; (2) The agency made a large mistake concerning the gestational carrier’s (GC) health insurance that led to increased cost and 5 months of delay; (3) the agency struggled with details and repeatedly made mistakes that cost time and money; (4) for two months after our relationship ended the agency did not return our remaining funds in escrow and also refused to honor refunds that they promised us.
(1) Contract with the agency: The agency omitted attachments of the initial contract, including the fee schedule, which was not provided to us until 8 months later. When asked about these attachments, the agency pointed to the wrong documents claiming they included all necessary information and additional details would be negotiated with the GC. When we pointed out the document titles didn’t match we were told the contract was boilerplate language and does not change. Moreover, according our lawyer, the agency provided an information packet that was initially incomplete and updated with unsigned forms, including the attachments we had not seen. The agency claimed we signed these documents. These errors led to confusion as unexpected fees were deducted from escrow, miss communication, and additional cost to us.
(2) Gestational carrier’s health insurance: The agency stated they reviewed the GC’s health insurance policy but later admitted to assuming the language was similar to other policies. Consequently, they missed a clear exclusion for surrogacy. Although we requested it, the agency did not provide the policy to us until after the GC had been medically cleared by our doctor and been screened by the agency. By this time it was too late to prevent $ 7400 in associated cost. Additionally, the agency under estimated the cost of a Lloyds of London surrogacy policy. ConceiveAbilities stated the cost was ~$ 10,000, ignoring a $ 16,000 deductible, for a total cost of $ 26,000. The insurance mistake led to a series of delays as we attempted to find alternative insurance or method of payment. These delays were exacerbated by inaccurate information provided by ConceiveAbilities to the GC and to us.

(3) Repeated mistakes by ConceiveAbilities: The agency displayed a lack of due diligence throughout the process. They made mistakes in reviewing documents, provided inaccurate instructions and poor support for the GC, and didn’t follow through on actions the agency agreed to pursue. For instance, the agency paid an incorrect expense report. When we identified the discrepancy, the agency did not investigate and claimed the report was correct. They only reviewed the report after our surrogacy lawyer pointed out the error. Eventually, the agency admitted they provided incorrect instructions to the GC. As a corrective action the agency deducted the mileage from the GC’s monthly stipend, which forced the GC to pay for the agency’s mistake. We still paid for additional travel expenses that were not required according to the terms of the contract. This mistake reduced our trust in the agency. As a result, we asked several times for receipts or other documentation verifying services and expenses. The agency first refused to provide these then agreed to CC us on disbursement instructions but did not follow through on this agreement.
(4) Money: The agency admitted to some of the mistakes mentioned above and waived some fees as compensation. Later, they agreed to refund our deposit. After we ended our relationship with them late August, they told us the checks for the refunds and escrow funds would be in the mail the following week. Instead, two weeks later they withdrew the previously waived fees from escrow and didn’t return the escrow funds (~$ 65,000) until late October. They never refunded the deposit, as promised.
It is our opinion based on these mistakes that the agency did not demonstrate an ability to coordinate and facilitate a complex process like surrogacy.