Twenty-one children, all born from surrogate mothers, were removed from their California home after their parents were investigated for child abuse – and police say they discovered the couple tricked surrogates into carrying their kids.
While investigating a 2-month-old baby’s traumatic head injury, Arcadia police discovered “numerous children – 15 children to be specific – ranging in ages from 2 months to 13 years old,” living in the same house, Lt. Kollin Cieadlo told Eyewitness News.
“Many of the children were birthed through surrogacy and then the male and female at the residence took legal guardianship of those kids,” Cieadlo added.
Six of the couple’s other children had been moved to other homes, but all 21 were confirmed to belong to Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38. The couple was arrested for felony child endangerment but later released.
Authorities are now looking for their nanny, 56-year-old Chunmei Li, who they say was caught on surveillance footage inside the home violently shaking the baby in May. Meanwhile, the parents waited two days before seeking medical care for the child, who remains hospitalized months later, KTLA reported.
Police sources told Eyewitness News that of the 21 children, 17 are younger than 3 years old. The police investigation also revealed that all of the children are products of a surrogacy operation owned and operated by Zhang and Xuan.
“It’s horrific, it’s disturbing, it’s damaging emotionally,” said Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers hired by the couple.
She says the pair told her they only had one other child. However, two months after giving birth, she learned the baby was no longer with the couple. Now, she hopes to gain custody of the child.
“These agencies, we’re supposed to trust them and follow their guidance and come to find out this whole thing was a scam, and the parents own the agency – that was not disclosed at all beforehand,” Elliot said.
Elliot later discovered she wasn’t the only surrogate for the pair – and that the baby she carried for them was not the only one removed from the home.
Several surrogate mothers from Texas to Florida all believed they were carrying the second child for a couple struggling with infertility until they realized they were all surrogates for the same set of parents. KTLA spoke with multiple women who say they were surrogates for the couple, including one Florida woman who delivered a stillborn in June.
Two Los Angeles County surrogates also claimed to have carried for the couple. One gave birth in March, and another had two babies for them, one in 2022 and one in 2024.
All of the women said they worked with Mark Surrogacy, which records later revealed was registered at the couple’s home address, according to the report.
Police said Zhang was able to show that she is the legal mother on all of the children’s birth certificates.
Mark Surrogacy recently filed paperwork to terminate the company, according to public records. However, a surrogate in Pennsylvania says she is currently pregnant with a child for Mark Surrogacy, KTLA reported.
“We are carrying for Mark Surrogacy, and we are 26 weeks,” the woman said. “It really hit hard when all of this came through.”
When reached by text, Zhang told KTLA, “Any accusations of wrongdoing are misguided and wrong. We look forward to vindicating any such claims at the appropriate time when and if any actions are brought.”
Police also say they have evidence of additional abuse involving other nannies and plan to soon present their findings to the district attorney.
Meanwhile, Elliot has started a GoFundMe to cover legal fees so ehs can try to gain custody of the child she delivered.
