The Journey, Episode 1: Gifts
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What is the premise of the series and who are the main people involved?
Hi, it's Madeline Barron. I'm so excited to bring you this new story from the brilliant investigative reporter Ava Kaufman and our longtime incredible producer, Natalie Jablonski. Ava is a staff writer for The New Yorker, and in my perhaps biased view, one of the most astounding investigative reporters working today. And the story, well, I'll let it speak for itself, but this one has really made me think deeply about what makes a family, who gets to be a parent, and how little recourse there is for anyone when things go terribly wrong. We'll be releasing new episodes every week, but if you want to listen to the entire series right now with no waiting and no ads, you can do that by subscribing to The New Yorker for just $1 a week.
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Alrighty guys, so I know it's been a while. Uh my name is Kayla. If y'all are just now stumbling upon my page, I am twenty six years old. I live in Texas and this is my first time being a gestational uh surrogate. So I'm kind of sharing my experience.
Last year, I started watching videos posted online by a woman in Corpus Christi, Texas.
This will be my fifth pregnancy. I have four bio kids. Um very new at YouTubing, so bear with me. I'm still getting the hang of actually speaking and looking at the camera making videos.
Kayla Elliott was about to carry a child for strangers. She figured about nine months of work and then it'd be over. In the delicate jargon of the fertility industry. The experience is called a journey.
Please subscribe and you will get some little sneak peeks of my journey in pregnancy.
Like every surrogate mother, Kayla understood the baby was not hers. It was a gift for someone else. Kayla was carrying a baby for a couple who told her they desperately wanted a second child. And who tried unsuccessfully to conceive.
And I say this with all my heart, guys, like if I could give my fertility, just a sliver of it, to every mom out there who's struggling with fertility, I would do it in a heartbeat. I mean, I would like no questions asked. Like I You know, I I love the fact that I could help another family and I don't see
She kept posting updates and videos, mostly on TikTok, so that her family and friends could follow along.
Here it is, guys, seventeen weeks today. Little baby girl. Belly button. Or loving being a surrogate.
Mm. But Kayla's journey would take her somewhere unexpected. Her posts would eventually attract a very different audience.
Popped up, my friend sent it to me on TikTok. I checked my email and here my attorney had sent us a TikTok. And that's what really stopped me in my tracks. And I was just scrolling and then I seen the names. And I was like, my heart just stopped. Like, are you serious?
Started to like make me shake.
I was getting so set and worried.
Kayla would end up becoming a whistleblower. Drawing attention to a confounding scheme that had been going on for years.
And now to a bizarre story in the San Gabriel Valley, the first thought that went into my head is oh my god, like, what don't we know? This is one of the craziest stories I've ever heard.
Kayla would be swept up into a much larger scandal. One that's still unfolding. and that threatens to undermine the entire surrogacy industry.
There's clearly a loophole in relation to Sarrogacy.
That's not a loophole. That circus he has designed. The scandal would raise uncomfortable questions about who gets to be a parent.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the premise of the series and who are the main people involved?
0:00–6:33
2
How does Kayla Elliott describe her decision to become a gestational surrogate?
6:33–13:45
3
What steps did Kayla take to match with the intended parents and begin the pregnancy?
13:45–19:57
4
How did the embryo transfer and birth of the baby unfold for Kayla and the couple?
19:57–26:59
5
Why did Kayla start suspecting something was wrong and become a whistle‑blower?
26:59–34:06
6
What did the investigation reveal about the couple’s alleged child‑trafficking scheme?
34:06–40:32
7
How does the story illustrate gaps in regulation and protections for surrogates in the U.S.?
40:32–48:00
8
What are the lasting impacts on Kayla, the other surrogates, and the broader surrogacy industry?
48:00–55:21