{

{

“title”: “FBI Investigates Surrogacy Agency After Owner Vanishes, Parents Left Unpaid”,

“body”: “FBI agents descended on the Washington home of Surro Connections owner Megan Hall‑Greenberg and the agency’s Camas, Washington headquarters on Tuesday, after the company abruptly shut down in early December, leaving parents‑to‑be and surrogates without access to tens of thousands of dollars.\n\n## FBI Presence and Agency Closure\n\nAgents entered Hall‑Greenberg’s Washougal, Washington, residence and the Camas office on Dec. 5. A neighbor reported seeing an FBI officer escort a person from the home into a vehicle, though the identity was unclear. Former employees, who had lost email and system access a day before the shutdown, were also interviewed.\n\nHall‑Greenberg, 49, had deleted her social media accounts and, according to clients and staff, had not replied to messages since Dec. 3. On Dec. 5 she emailed intended parents that Surro Connections was \\”ceasing all operations\\” because of \\”financial and operational difficulties\\” and that the company had \\”no liquid capital\\” to repay them.\n\nIn a separate email she informed staff that their employment was \\”terminated effective immediately.\\”\n\nAn FBI spokesperson said the bureau could \\”not confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation.\\”\n\n## Escrow Funds and Client Losses\n\nSarah Shaffer, the agency’s marketing manager and lead surrogate coordinator, estimates that about 150 families had money in the company’s in‑house escrow system, totaling between $2 million and $5 million. She told NBC News, \\”Some intended parents had just funded a night before this happened,\\” and added, \\”A lot of them have taken out savings to be able to afford this journey.\\”\n\nMariana Klaveno, 46, had transferred more than $66,000 to the escrow for an embryo transfer scheduled for next month. Her surrogate reported that other surrogates were not being paid and urged everyone to \\”get a lawyer.\\” Klaveno recalled the surrogate’s words: \\”Other surrogates aren’t getting paid. Everyone’s freaking out. Everyone says to get a lawyer,\\” and that she could no longer reach Hall‑Greenberg or access the escrow account.\n\nAlexis Lytle, 27, a surrogate in Indiana who is 19 weeks pregnant, said payments were sometimes late. She explained, \\”I just figured, ‘It’s an agency, they’re busy,’\\” and noted that her intended parents had lost about $40,000.\n\nKama Stauffer, 34, a first‑time surrogate from Ashland, Ohio, who is nine weeks pregnant, received her payment this month but learned of the problems through a Facebook group. She estimates her intended parents lost about $50,000 and said, \\”It seemed unreal. It seemed impossible that an agency could basically implode overnight with no notice.\\”\n\n## Financial Strain and Prior Legal Issues\n\nPublic records indicate Hall‑Greenberg may have been experiencing financial strain. Last year she sold several cheerleading gyms she owned across Oregon and Washington. Between that business and Surro Connections, she owes Oregon more than $84,000 in unpaid taxes.\n\nShe took out at least four loans over the past five years to support her businesses. In September she sold a lender a percentage of Surro Connections’ future revenue for $15,000. The lender sued weeks later, accusing her of defaulting on the agreement, and then discontinued the case in October for unspecified reasons.\n\nThe same month a court ordered Hall‑Greenberg to pay American Express over $70,000 that she owed in credit card debt. Less than six months prior, she had been ordered to pay the company more than $30,000.\n\n## Agency Operations and In‑House Escrow\n\nSurro Connections, founded in 2010, marketed itself as a top‑tier surrogacy agency with clients worldwide. Hall‑Greenberg persuaded parents to keep their escrow funds in‑house, assuring them the money was kept separate in a bank insured by the FDIC. Invoices and receipts were to be stored in a shared folder accessible to intended parents.\n\nWhen parents or surrogates pushed back on the in‑house system, Hall‑Greenberg would often insist. Klaveno said, \\”In hindsight, it seems like it’s kind of a red flag that it was an in‑house escrow situation, but they had sort of sold it as, ‘You get to save money with us,’\\” noting the one‑stop shop avoided some third‑party fees.\n\nThe Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy, a nonprofit that releases standards for surrogacy and egg donation, still advises that a third party hold the escrow to protect intended parents and surrogates.\n\n## Aftermath and Ongoing Support\n\nAfter many payments failed to go out in December, calls and complaints poured in. Shaffer said Hall‑Greenberg asked her to clear her schedule and then stopped responding to employees and clients. Christopher Foster, owner of a neighboring business, heard the agency’s phone ring off the hook for about 10 hours on Dec. 5.\n\nWhen the FBI searched the office, Foster reported that it had been cleared out: \\”There were empty binders everywhere. Bags of shredded files … computers are all gone.\\”\n\nSeveral former Surro Connections employees are working to connect clients and surrogates to other agencies and organizations, some offering pro‑bono services. Yet many intended parents remain grappling with the scale of their losses and how to move forward.\n\nKlaveno doubts she’ll ever recoup her money, but she emphasizes that Hall‑Greenberg knew the significance of the funds. \\”It was the hope. It was the dream of building a family, and in some cases, maybe the only hope of doing that,\\” she said.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- FBI agents searched the owner’s home and agency headquarters after an abrupt shutdown in December.\n- About $2‑$5 million in escrow funds were left inaccessible to roughly 150 families.\n- Hall‑Greenberg’s financial difficulties and prior legal disputes suggest possible mismanagement.\n\nThe abrupt collapse of Surro Connections has left a ripple of financial loss and emotional distress for parents‑to‑be and surrogates across the country.”,

“meta_description”: “FBI probes Surro Connections after owner disappears, leaving parents unpaid and escrow funds missing. The agency abruptly shut down in December.”,

“categories”: [“Breaking News”, “Business News”, “Health News”]

}