A 48-year-old Manhattan man says he spent roughly $34,000 and five years trying to have a child through a Fifth Avenue surrogacy practice that allegedly strung him along with fabricated progress reports, hid a surrogate's miscarriage from him, and shipped his sperm to an unvetted clinic in Ghana without his direct authorization. Edward Gonzalez has now refiled his lawsuit against Surrogacy4All and related entities in Manhattan Supreme Court, accusing the practice of fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and business-law violations.
Gonzalez first turned to Surrogacy4All in 2019, according to amNewYork, which first reported on the case. His lawsuit alleges the company repeatedly told him a surrogate had been reserved for him, that two surrogates were being prepared, and that sixteen surrogates were in the pipeline at various points — claims Gonzalez calls misleading, false and contradictory. The suit also alleges Surrogacy4All blamed delays on excuses including a broken sex-selection machine and COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Perhaps most seriously, Gonzalez alleges that in 2024 a surrogate miscarried just 16 days after an embryo transfer he says he did not fully know about or consent to — and that Surrogacy4All withheld that transfer and miscarriage from him entirely. The lawsuit claims the company instead told him his embryos were still being created and that a transfer was scheduled repeatedly, even after the miscarriage had reportedly already occurred.
Sperm Shipped to Ghana Without a Direct Contract
Court exhibits cited in the dossier show that in December 2022, Surrogacy4All Practice Director Deepak Gulati communicated with Gonzalez regarding sperm specimens sent from a New Jersey fertility center to Ruma IVF, a clinic in Ghana, to oversee embryo creation. Gonzalez says he was copied on internal clinic email chains about the arrangement but never had a direct contract with the Ghanaian clinic himself. His lawsuit alleges the defendants worked with unvetted laboratories without clients' full knowledge and outsourced critical work to an unvetted foreign clinic altogether.
The lawsuit further alleges that Surrogacy4All shared Gonzalez's confidential medical information with 16 other patients, and that its promotional materials misrepresented the surrogates and donors actually available to him. Among the disturbing details in the suit: the company's catalog of potential surrogates allegedly included an individual who appeared to be a female child. The suit also claims defendants advertised a 90% surrogacy success rate and told prospective clients they were FDA registered, fully licensed and insured — representations Gonzalez's suit disputes.
Recruiting Surrogates Through Reddit and Craigslist
Gonzalez's lawsuit alleges that Surrogacy4All and its affiliated defendants recruited gestational surrogates and egg donors through anonymous Craigslist postings and a Reddit forum the company itself created, rather than through the multi-stage clinical vetting that accredited agencies typically use. Industry standards set by national reproductive health organizations call for surrogates to undergo psychological evaluations, background screenings, and a documented history of at least one uncomplicated pregnancy before being matched with intended parents, according to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. Reddit users have separately posted comments alleging similar negative experiences with the company, amNewYork's report notes.
The allegations arrive against a regulatory backdrop that only recently opened the door to commercial surrogacy in New York at all. Compensated gestational surrogacy became legal in the state on February 15, 2021, under the Child-Parent Security Act, which repealed a 1992 ban on compensated surrogacy contracts, per the New York State Department of Health. That law requires surrogacy matching agencies operating in the state to be licensed by the health department and guarantees surrogates a statutory Bill of Rights covering independent legal representation and full medical decision-making authority.
Federal Case Dismissed on Jurisdictional Grounds, Not Merits
Gonzalez originally filed a federal lawsuit against Surrogacy4All and connected entities in Manhattan federal court in 2024. U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho granted a motion to dismiss that case under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and the clerk entered judgment closing the federal case on June 9, according to court records reviewed in the dossier. The federal court did not rule on the merits of the underlying fraud or breach-of-contract allegations — it simply determined the case should be filed in state court instead, prompting Gonzalez to refile in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Beyond Surrogacy4All itself, the lawsuit names Rashmi Gulati, Deepak Gulati, Indian Egg Donors, Patients Medical P.C., DGA Inc. and Gulati Holdings LLC as defendants. Gonzalez claims these corporations function as alter egos of one another and of the Gulatis personally. Rashmi and Deepak Gulati are understood by Gonzalez to own Surrogacy4All, while Deepak Gulati is described in the suit as a partner. Rashmi Gulati is a medical professional; the suit also alleges she pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 1992, per the filing.
Corporate records show Patients Medical P.C. operates Surrogacy4All and Indian Egg Donors from the same Fifth Avenue office. Patients Medical was founded in 1974 as an integrative medicine clinic and has been led by Dr. Rashmi Gulati as Medical Director since 2004, according to Patients Medical. Deepak Gulati has served as the practice's Practice Director since 2004 and has held the same role at Indian Egg Donors and Surrogacy4All since 2006, managing all three out of one Manhattan suite, according to Indian Egg Donors, which describes itself as an egg donation agency. Patients Medical, Rashmi Gulati and Deepak Gulati were also named years earlier in a 2013 federal civil rights and pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of New York, according to records on file with GovInfo.
Hundreds of Other Clients Allegedly Affected
Gonzalez's lawsuit alleges that Surrogacy4All treated hundreds of other clients similarly, taking substantial advance payments for surrogacy and egg-donation services without following through on its promises. It further claims the defendants refused refunds outright and, in some cases, retained money that had already been refunded on customers' behalf. Gonzalez is seeking a refund of all money he paid to the practice along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
David Bowles, who represents Surrogacy4All, Indian Egg Donors, Patients Medical P.C., DGA Inc. and the Gulatis, provided no comment beyond describing the federal court's dismissal, amNewYork reported. None of the allegations in Gonzalez's refiled complaint have been proven in court, and the case is now proceeding in Manhattan Supreme Court.
