LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas couple caught in an international surrogacy nightmare has reached a settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by their surrogacy agency, just one day after I first reported their story.
Aymeric and Naiah Monello-Fuentes paid tens of thousands of dollars to Miracle Surrogacy, a Florida agency that does business in Mexico. Unable to conceive on their own and unable to afford surrogacy in the United States, the couple signed a contract to have a biological child using Aymeric's sperm and a donor egg secured through the agency.
After months of travel, expenses, and preparation, the surrogate gave birth to a baby girl whom the couple named Emma. However, the couple learned the baby was not conceived the way they expected.
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Two DNA tests showed Aymeric was not the biological father. One of those tests suggests the surrogate is Emma's biological mother.
"I was scared. I was scared because... I loved her. And regardless of whatever, it's like, what's gonna happen? Are they gonna take her?" Naiah said.
Emma remains in Las Vegas with her parents.
Miracle Surrogacy offered to provide the couple with another surrogacy journey in exchange for their silence about what happened. The couple refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement and shared the outcome of their surrogacy on social media to warn other families.
"Yeah, we got sued," Naiah said.
Miracle Surrogacy filed a federal defamation lawsuit accusing the couple of a "calculated and malicious online smear campaign... designed to destroy Miracle's reputation and business goodwill." The couple denied the accusations. The company also threatened to sue our news station if we aired the story.
On Feb. 13, one day after the original story aired, a joint notice was filed in the defamation case. The notice advised the court that both parties agreed to resolve the issue and were in the process of finalizing a settlement.
"I don't villainize them. I don't hate them. I just wanted them to do the right thing," Naiah said.
The court ordered the defamation case to be administratively closed while waiting for both parties to file formal dismissal documents. The terms of the settlement will remain confidential.
