Twenty-one children all born through surrogate mothers have been removed from a California home after police uncovered what they describe as a disturbing scheme. Authorities say the couple behind it tricked surrogates across the country into carrying babies for them.
The investigation began when Arcadia police responded to a hospital report of a two-month-old baby suffering from traumatic head injuries. At the couple’s home, officers discovered 15 children ranging in age from two months to 13 years old living together, Lt. Kollin Cieadlo told Eyewitness News.
Six additional children tied to the couple had already been placed in other homes.
Police later confirmed all 21 children were linked to Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38. The pair were arrested on felony child endangerment charges and later released.
Authorities are now searching for the couple’s nanny, 56-year-old Chunmei Li, who was reportedly caught on surveillance video violently shaking the infant in May.
Despite the injuries, police say Xuan and Zhang waited two days before seeking medical care. The baby remains hospitalized.
Police sources told Eyewitness News that 17 of the rescued children are under three years old. Investigators also discovered the children were all the result of a surrogacy operation run by Zhang and Xuan.
“It’s horrific, it’s disturbing, it’s damaging emotionally,” said Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers. Elliot said Zhang and Xuan claimed they only had one other child. But two months after she delivered their baby, she learned the child had been removed from their custody. She is now seeking to gain custody.
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“These agencies — we’re supposed to trust them, follow their guidance, and come to find out this whole thing was a scam,” Elliot said. “The parents owned the agency. That was not disclosed at all.”
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Elliot soon learned she was not alone. Surrogates from Texas to Florida also believed they were helping a couple struggling with infertility, only to discover they were all carrying children for the same parents. One Florida woman delivered a stillborn baby in June. Two Los Angeles County surrogates said they carried babies for the couple — one gave birth in March, another delivered two children for them in 2022 and 2024.
All of the surrogates said they worked through Mark Surrogacy, a company later revealed to be registered at Xuan and Zhang’s home. Public records show the couple recently moved to dissolve the company, though a Pennsylvania surrogate is currently 26 weeks pregnant with a child for Mark Surrogacy.
“It really hit hard when all of this came through,” the Pennsylvania surrogate told KTLA.
Police said Zhang is listed as the legal mother on all of the children’s birth certificates. Meanwhile, investigators say they have evidence of additional abuse involving other nannies and plan to present their findings to prosecutors.
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.”
Elliot has started a GoFundMe to raise money for legal fees as she seeks custody of the child she delivered.
