CA - California couple accused of tricking women into carrying babies through surrogacy; 21 children seized, warrants 9 May 2025

[Knox]

Surrogate moms from Texas to Florida thought they were carrying a baby for a Southern California couple struggling to have a second child due to infertility. Then, the women discovered they were all surrogates for the same couple, some at the same time, with the babies now in foster care.

https://ktla.com/news/local-news/california-couple-surrogacy-case/?

 

[Knox]

The couple had 15 children living at their Arcadia home, and six others had been moved to other homes.

Investigators say the children range in age from about 2 months old to 13 years old, but most are between 1 and 3 years old.

Police say action was taken after a 2-month-old baby was brought to the hospital with severe head trauma. Security video inside Zhang and Xuan’s home allegedly showed their nanny, Chunmei Li, violently shaking and hitting the baby. Video also showed other nannies abusing all the children, according to police.

21 children taken from couple amid surrogacy scam investigation

Detectives say most of the children were born to surrogate mothers, none of whom knew they were carrying the couple’s embryos at the same time.

www.kgns.tv

 

[Knox]

What were these people up too? He’s 65, she’s 38, what’s their money source? I’m not sure what the average cost of surrogacy is, but there’s also the cost of raising 21 kids.

And what about the agency, who owns it?

 

[Parsnip]

Just when I think I’ve hit my shock limit. This is beyond comprehension. It’s as if they created a baby farm. A very expensive, truly horrendous baby farm. What the actual bleep?

 

[Knox]

Just when I think I’ve hit my shock limit. This is beyond comprehension. It’s as if they created a baby farm. A very expensive, truly horrendous baby farm. What the actual bleep?

If several nannies were abusing the babies and it was documented on their home security cameras. Does that mean they knew about the abuse?

 

[Parsnip]

What were these people up too? He’s 65, she’s 38, what’s their money source? I’m not sure what the average cost of surrogacy is, but there’s also the cost of raising 21 kids.

And what about the agency, who owns it?

Not to mention nanny salaries, daycare, baby supplies, and on and on.

 

[Vaderman]

Just when I think I’ve hit my shock limit. This is beyond comprehension. It’s as if they created a baby farm. A very expensive, truly horrendous baby farm. What the actual bleep?

Yeah this is a headscratcher. What's the motivation for this? God complex?

 

[tlcya]

What were these people up too? He’s 65, she’s 38, what’s their money source? I’m not sure what the average cost of surrogacy is, but there’s also the cost of raising 21 kids.

And what about the agency, who owns it?

Neighbors say the nine bedrooms at the couple’s 10,000-square-foot, $4 million home were set up like hotel suites the last time they got a peek through the front door.

“It’s kind of set up like a hotel with a big, giant lobby, and all the rooms are like suites,” neighbor Hobart Young said.
21 children taken from couple amid surrogacy scam investigation

Sources told Eyewitness News that of the 21 children, 17 are 3 years old or younger. Police say all 21 children are in the custody of Department of Children and Family Services.
[snip]
"That to me smells of trafficking, child trafficking," Fell said. "What are the intentions of having that many children at home through these assisted reproductive technologies?"
21 children - all with surrogate mothers - taken from Arcadia couple amid investigation

Through an agency called Mark Surrogacy, Kayla was matched with a couple in Arcadia, California. After a successful embryo transfer via IVF, she gave birth to their baby on March 13.

Two months later, Kayla was shocked to learn the baby she carried was no longer with the intended parents. The child had been placed in foster care.
[snip]
Public records list an Arcadia home as the address for Mark Surrogacy and also as the residence of Silvia Zhang, the woman the surrogates say they carried for.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/california-couple-surrogacy-case/

4 million dollar home? Where do these folks get this kind of money? What on earth was the end game on this?

sounds as if al they were doing was paying out money to these surrogates but the babies weren't sold to parents anxious to have babies so . . . what exactly is their source of income??

 

[Parsnip]

Yeah this is a headscratcher. What's the motivation for this? God complex?

Maybe a god complex. Maybe a dark web business. Idk, but I do wonder whether some people lie awake at night trying to think of novel and ingenious ways to torment their fellow humans.

 

[mickey2942]

I am not a fan of "surrogacy". It is not unlike prostitution to me, and that is illegal in most places. The whole thing is exploitative. Rich folks, paying women to use their bodies as a nine month incubator.

Are all of the babies linked genetically to this couple? Or is it an even deeper scenario?

 

[Parsnip]

I am not a fan of "surrogacy". It is not unlike prostitution to me, and that is illegal in most places. The whole thing is exploitative. Rich folks, paying women to use their bodies as a nine month incubator.

RSBM

It’s certainly been a controversial issue, and I appreciate your pov. I wrote one of my qualifying papers on the Baby M case. There are numerous moral and legal issues. Those aside, this couple has invested quite a sizable sum. Looking at it pragmatically, to the extent this horror can be looked at in that manner, what did they hope to gain? Moo.

 

[Knox]

I am not a fan of "surrogacy". It is not unlike prostitution to me, and that is illegal in most places. The whole thing is exploitative. Rich folks, paying women to use their bodies as a nine month incubator.

Are all of the babies linked genetically to this couple? Or is it an even deeper scenario?

Like with all good things in this world, corruption happens. Surrogacy is a beautiful thing for couples who cannot carry their own child.

 

[Knox]

RSBM

It’s certainly been a controversial issue, and I appreciate your pov. I wrote one of my qualifying papers on the Baby M case. There are numerous moral and legal issues. Those aside, this couple has invested quite a sizable sum. Looking at it pragmatically, to the extent this horror can be looked at in that manner, what did they hope to gain? Moo.

I’m wondering if this is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

Have investigators had the opportunity to go through all of the agencies records? Are there more children and are they all accounted for?

 

[Tealgrove]

I initially thought that this was a way for this couple to secure babies for private adoptions at huge prices. That doesn’t seem to be the reason as they kept them and abused them.

What was the end game?

 

[SubzeroSongie]

Anyone else had to read this a couple times? lmao

 

[scandinavian girl]

Anyone else had to read this a couple times? lmao

Just started round 2,

 

[Megnut]

Zanny, the nanny? Is there any proof of actual nannies, or just a convenient scapegoat? *ETA Nanny is real, caught on video abusing a little.

Who is behind the now shuttered surrogacy agency?

And where is all this money coming from?

That house!

I have questions.

JMO

 

[tlcya]

Zanny, the nanny? Is there any proof of actual nannies, or just a convenient scapegoat?

Who is behind the now shuttered surrogacy agency?

And where is all this money coming from?

That house!

I have questions.

JMO

apparently the nanny is on video - so not a zanny

 

[borndem]

The couple had 15 children living at their Arcadia home, and six others had been moved to other homes.

Investigators say the children range in age from about 2 months old to 13 years old, but most are between 1 and 3 years old.

Police say action was taken after a 2-month-old baby was brought to the hospital with severe head trauma. Security video inside Zhang and Xuan’s home allegedly showed their nanny, Chunmei Li, violently shaking and hitting the baby. Video also showed other nannies abusing all the children, according to police.

21 children taken from couple amid surrogacy scam investigation

Detectives say most of the children were born to surrogate mothers, none of whom knew they were carrying the couple’s embryos at the same time.

www.kgns.tv

WTH???

 

[Megnut]

apparently the nanny is on video - so not a zanny

Ah, I read it wrong. This whole story is bizarre --

JMO