In May of 2025, the former owner of three San Diego-based surrogacy consulting businesses was sentenced in federal court to 24 months in prison. Lillian Arielle Markowitz stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients through their escrow accounts, and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Todd W. Robinson to pay over $389,000 in restitution to those clients.
Markowitz owned the businesses Expecting Surrogacy, My Donor Cycle, and Surrogacy Beyond Borders. She marketed herself as a surrogacy consultant to those wishing to become parents.
Her plea agreement includes admissions to sending fraudulent requests to withdraw escrow funds from the company holding them, one such request even including a forged client signature. Nine additional clients’ funds were not placed into those escrow accounts as Markowitz had promised, and instead were deposited into a business checking account. Markowitz used this account to cover her personal expenses, and to pay other businesses (payments related to her unrelated yoga and float business), according to prosecutors.
“Facing mounting debt and desperate to fulfill the guarantees she had promised to hopeful parents, she made catastrophic choices,” says the memorandum from Markowitz’s defense attorney. Her financial situation worsened in 2018, which is the year records indicate she began to take client funds. Those financial issues apparently disrupted her ability to pay for client’s services as well as her general living expenses.
“Lillian Markowitz turned her surrogacy businesses into a Ponzi scheme,” states U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “She did not simply steal funds. She stole the dream of parenthood from her victims. She exploited hope and heartbreak for profit. Those who prey on the desperate will be held accountable.”