California couple charged over surrogacy abuse scheme involving 21 children

Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan face multiple child abuse counts after 21 children were removed from their Arcadia home. Prosecutors seek $100m bail.

California surrogacy probe: couple faces abuse charges over 21 children

A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children, aged from two months to 13 years, CNN reports.

Silvia Zhang and her husband Guojun Xuan face several counts of child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse, as well as accessory after the fact and dissuading a witness, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference on Tuesday.

"This case is unprecedented. It is horrific. And the physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received, is despicable," Hochman said.

Prosecutors are seeking $100 million bail for the couple, citing the serious nature of the charges and their potential flight risk. Both are due to be arraigned at the Pasadena courthouse.

Children removed from 'house of horrors'

Fifteen children were removed from the couple's home in Arcadia last year following an abuse allegation. A further six living elsewhere were subsequently located. Most of the children were aged between one and three years old. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of them; the remainder were born by surrogate.

Hochman described the property as a "house of horrors for these incredible young children."

The couple had set up a surrogacy agency operated from the home and used it to recruit surrogates across the United States. Inside, three rooms were designated as so-called learning centres, where the children spent several hours a day seated at desks under nanny supervision.

Surveillance footage and daily beatings

Through an extensive network of motion-activated cameras, Zhang and Xuan monitored nannies who, according to Hochman, subjected the children to daily beatings and physical abuse. The nannies were instructed "not to leave any physical marks on the children," he said.

Police examined surveillance footage confirming the abuse. An arrest warrant was issued for nanny Chunmei Li, who was seen on camera violently shaking a two-month-old infant. She has not been located.

The case first came to light in May 2025, when a hospital reported that the two-month-old had sustained a traumatic head injury. Zhang and Xuan were arrested at that time, but Arcadia police held off on filing charges to allow a full investigation to be completed.

Before officers arrived to search the property, the couple instructed the children to deny any beatings had taken place, Hochman said.

"There will be a reckoning," Hochman told reporters, noting that one of the defendants faces more than 17 years in prison if convicted.

Defence and motivation

Mitchell Krems, Xuan's attorney, previously told ABC7 that his client's objective was to raise children who would become productive members of society.

"The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society. He is not a man who is self-indulgent," Krems said. "Some who are wealthy might spend on jewelry or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated so that they can be the philosophers, the physicians, the researchers and the inventors that help society."

Krems did not respond to a request for comment following Tuesday's arrests.

When asked about the couple's motivation, Hochman said that question remained part of the ongoing investigation, as does the parentage of each child.

Surrogates say they were misled

Investigators have been examining whether the couple misled surrogates recruited across the country. At least eight women came forward to say they were aggressively pursued to serve as surrogates, and that they received misleading or incomplete information about the couple's family situation and intentions. Many were first-time surrogates.

At least one of the women, Kayla Elliott, is now seeking custody of a baby she carried for the couple.

Surrogacy in the United States is not subject to federal regulation, leaving individual states to set their own rules. California is widely regarded as a surrogacy-friendly state, with clear legal requirements including mandatory legal representation for both parties and a written, notarised contract prior to any embryo transfer.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)