Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced that his Consumer Protection Division has filed two actions against Greg Blosser, DBA as The Surrogacy Group, LLC (Surrogacy Group), an Annapolis-based company that sold surrogacy services to consumers in Maryland and other states and countries.
The case is scheduled for a hearing in the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings. On April 22, 2019 Circuit Court Judge Michael Wachs issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against Blosser, barring him from selling any further surrogacy-related services to Maryland consumers, as well as from collecting any further monies from Maryland consumers in connection with his business.
A hearing to determine whether that order should remain in place until the administrative charges are resolved is scheduled for April 29, 2019, at 9:00 am, at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County. A hearing on the administrative charges is scheduled to take place on July 9, 2019, at the Office of Administrative Hearings.
The Surrogacy Group is charged with collecting fees as high as $100,000 and failing to provide the promised surrogacy services to hopeful parents, acts that constitute unfair or deceptive trade practices in violation of the Consumer Protection Act. Surrogacy is an arrangement whereby a woman, who acts as a gestational carrier, agrees to become pregnant, carry the pregnancy to term, and give birth to the child for another person who ultimately becomes the parent of the newborn child. Intended parents sometimes seek to have children through a gestational carrier when pregnancy is medically impossible or when pregnancy risks are unacceptable.
According to the Statement of Charges, the Surrogacy Group collected initial fees, generally between $12,000 and $22,000 for services, followed by additional amounts that were supposed to be held in escrow to pay for additional medical expenses and other fees for its client’s surrogates. The Surrogacy Group is charged with repeatedly failing to provide promised surrogacy services, instead collecting consumers’ payments and using their money for Blosser’s own personal benefit.
“Surrogacy Group has been charged with preying on peoples’ hopes of parenthood for financial gain,” said Attorney General Frosh. “Blosser and his company are barred from victimizing others, pending further hearings.”
The Division is seeking, in addition to the injunction entered by the Circuit Court, restitution to victims, costs, and penalties for alleged violations of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act.
In addition to the complaint by the Attorney General, Blosser has two civil cases pending for contract fraud, one civil case for breach of contract, and liens filed by the IRS and the Comptroller of Maryland.
For more information, consumers may call the Consumer Protection hotline at (410) 528-8662 or toll free at (888) 743-0023.
