PHOENIX — Multiple Arizona couples are looking for ways to recover the money they paid upfront to Babymoon Inns after both birthing center locations closed suddenly this summer.
As Ariel Trufin prepares the nursery for her first child who is due in October, she tells ABC15 she is "super excited" and wants the gender of the baby to be a surprise. She and her husband George Trufin could use a good surprise after the shock they went through this summer.
“The journey has been eventful,” Ariel said.
Ariel was supposed to get prenatal care and deliver her baby at Babymoon Inn. It's a birthing center in Phoenix where midwives have provided full-service maternity care for more than a decade.
“It felt very warm and welcoming,” George said.
The Trufins signed the services agreement in April. Since they weren’t using insurance, they wrote a personal check for the full fee, nearly $7,000.
“We just recently got out of debt, and we didn't want to put it on a credit card or anything like that,” said George. “They had the option of, if you pay in full, it's almost 20% off.”
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The Trufins thought they got a bargain, but less than three months later, both Phoenix and Tucson Babymoon Inn locations would close.
“That was a really hard day for both of us,” Ariel said. The couple said they asked for a refund but haven't seen a penny.
"Not hearing anything back with an alternative solution got very discouraging," Ariel added.
George and Ariel Trufin are not alone. They connected ABC15 with other former babymoon clients who also wanted money back after the birthing centers closed this summer.
ABC15 talked to seven other former clients via Zoom at the end of August. All telling ABC15 they were left scrambling—with just two to three weeks' notice— to find and pay for new care providers.
“By the time that we found out about it, they had already let go all of their staff, so the only person that was there the day that we showed up was our midwife,” said Elizabeth Reece, a former Babymoon Inn client. “There's been no formal communication about it.”
The ABC15 Investigators tried to reach Julia Ryerson-Hall who described herself as the founder and executive director of Babymoon Inn. Our phone calls, emails, and even a personal message left at her home were not returned.
Expectant mom, Aryiel Roberts, did get a response from Ryerson-Hall after filing a consumer complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. Roberts said she paid babymoon more than $3,700 and went to just 3 appointments. In her complaint, she wrote that Babymoon Inn owes her a partial refund.
Julia Ryerson-Hall responded to the consumer complaint saying the client paid “an appropriate charge” and “no such reimbursement is due.”
Ryerson-Hall also tried to explain was caused Babymoon to “make a tough decision to wind down.”
She wrote “Babymoon had suffered from a significant decrease in revenue” and “volume.” Also, she wrote, “A lawsuit was filed in April by investors in the practice” and she filed for a “personal bankruptcy” in May.
The ABC15 Investigators took a closer look at the court documents.
The out-of-state investors filed a lawsuit against Ryerson-Hall, her ex-husband and Babymoon Inn, claiming they defaulted on a $1.5-million business loan they received last year.
ABC15 learned from the bankruptcy court that Ryerson-Hall kept paying herself into this year. More than $9,000 in March and $5,000 in April, which was two months before the business closed.
“It is the money, but it's more than the money,” Reece said. “It is how unethical it was.”
“To have this happen to us is an unnecessary and unfair amount of stress,” said Jared Buccola, whose wife also signed a contract with Babymoon Inn.
“It's just not okay,” said former Babymoon Inn client Ateh Reiter. “And there's so many families that were left in the dust based on her behavior.”
Flora DiPietro questioned why Babymoon Inn solicited their large upfront payment even after the lawsuit and bankruptcy filings.
“The back of the check shows Julia signed it like she cashed a check Wednesday night or Wednesday during the day, and then turned around on Thursday and started calling people saying, ‘Hey, we're shutting both places down in two weeks.’” DiPietro said.
Now just one month away from her due date, Ariel and George Trufin have hired a new midwife and they are planning a home birth.
While still looking for accountability from Babymoon Inn.
“Even if there's no financial return,” George said. “It's like knowing that we did everything we can to shed light on the situation.”
The Trufins and some of the other couples have filed as creditors in the personal bankruptcy case for Babymoon’s owner, Julia Ryerson-Hall.
There is a federal court hearing Wednesday in the case where they are hoping to get some answers on whether they'll ever see their money again.
You can reach Melissa by email at melissa.blasius@abc15.com or call 602-803-2506. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @MelissaBlasius or Facebook.
