Elevate Egg Donors and Surrogates Verified listing

Like many others here we were initially impressed with their seemingly premium selection of donors and Taylor was a friendly and charming character. It didn’t take us long to find an ideal donor. However, like almost all attractive donors in their database she didn’t donate before and therefore was never screened by a clinic at all.

We knew from the ElevateBaby website that they would offer to select a different donor without extra charge if a donor was rejected for medical reasons. We were aware of the risk that our selected donor may not pass the screening (which did cost us almost $2000).

Before we committed to get our preferred donor screened, we had a second donor from a different agency at hand, as an alternative choice. Because of that, we asked Taylor if he would make an exception and offer a full refund option in case the donor wasn’t suitable. Within minutes he replied to that request by email and confirmed that they’re happy to offer a full refund. The wording was very clear and couldn’t be misunderstood at all.
Me:
> I would ask you for a full refund option (minus a handling fee if you need) in case she’s not a suitable donor, instead of a free re-match. Reason why is that we currently have a second donor at hand who isn’t with your agency. Do you think that’s possible?

Within hours they replied the following:
> That is absolutely possible. Please take this email as a note that you will be refunded should the donor not come back as a good match for you. I agree that you should begin her screening so we can get all of the results pending and set you up for a retrieval quickly.

A few hours later he sent us their agency agreement to sign. The agreement didn’t include the full refund option though. We signed it anyway, trusting in handshake quality and that they would stick to their promise of a full refund if things go sideways.

Ultimately our preferred donor was rejected because of a serious DNA issue. When I asked Taylor to please refund the money as agreed earlier, he refused to do so and still refuses to date (6 months later now). They are playing waiting games with me, replying only to each 5th email and with weeks of delay. For months they tried to indicate that they’re willing to settle this, but don’t move. They’re just sending me in circles to waste my time. E.g. they now asked for the 5th time for my bank account but still don’t send the money back.

Obviously this agency has no decency and doesn’t care about business ethics, they’re just after the money. Stay away from them if you can. It’s all nice and shiny as long as the money keeps coming in on their bank account, but as soon as they’re about to lose you as a client, they turn rogue and don’t care about ethical business practices anymore. Taylor repeatedly patronized and insulted me in the process while I was always calm in describing my case, supported by hard facts.

The really shocking aspect of this story is that they’re misusing their clients who are often times in very vulnerable situations. We were struggling for years to have our baby, with so many heart-breaking set backs I’ve stopped counting them, almost losing my wife in the process. And then we get fooled by a shady donor agency on top, while living overseas having no realistic chance to find an US based lawyer who is willing to fight for our case. This is disappointing to a level that can’t be described by words.