A child abuse investigation led authorities to the giant home of a couple in Arcadia, California, where they found 21 young children, some of whom were birthed by surrogate mothers, according to police.
The couple, Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, were arrested and have since been released, pending further investigation, authorities said. Police said they are now investigating whether the children, whose ages ranged from 2 months to 13 years, were “part of a surrogacy scam,” NBC News reported.
It is unclear how many of the children were born to surrogate mothers, according to the report. A local outlet reported that the “children were products of a surrogacy agency owned and operated by Xuan and Zhang” and that “unbeknownst to the surrogate mothers who worked with the agency, the couple kept all of the children rather than placing them with other families.”
One of the surrogate mothers spoke with a bioethics watchdog group called Center for Bioethics & Culture Network and said she is shocked by the reports and was allegedly misled into thinking her child was the only child who would be living at the Arcadia home and that the couple had struggled to conceive.
“It was her first time being a surrogate mother,” executive director Kallie Fell said. “The baby that she birthed, she is trying to get custody now. She was told by the intended parents that she was their only surrogate mother, that they had one child…”
Zhang and Xuan were arrested after a local hospital called authorities to report the case of a 2-month-old baby with head injuries. The baby’s condition has improved, but “the long-term prognosis is unclear,” according to the report.
After the hospital reported child abuse, police went to the couple’s home and found 15 young children. The six other children were in the care of family and friends at the time. The children in the home were taken into protective custody, police said.
“We have been in contact with the FBI,” Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said. “We are working with them. When we first were out there, we recognized this as going to be something beyond the scope of our local investigative abilities so we reached out fairly quickly to them.”
A local news outlet said the home is a 10,000-square-foot property owned by the couple, and various reports have said the home was set up like a hotel or a school.
Arcadia police said cameras seized from the home show the children being emotionally and physically abused by at least six nannies. Authorities said footage shows a nanny violently shaking and hitting the baby who was hospitalized on May 5. The alleged attack resulted in the baby losing consciousness, and the child was not taken to the hospital until two days later after the baby began to have seizures.
Authorities issued arrested warrants for Zhang, Xuan and the 56-year-old nanny, who was in custody as of Wednesday. Bail for the couple was set at $500,000 each, and they were booked on suspicious of felony child endangerment and neglect.
“There are no laws against hiring multiple surrogate mothers at a time,” Fell said. “… but as we can see, this case highlights inherent dangers of commercial surrogacy.”
Cieadlo said the long-term investigation will look into how all the children were born, and law enforcement will work to contact all surrogate mothers involved.
“And again, that will be something that we work with our federal partners because we believe this extends beyond our city limits, possibly through the rest of the country, even internationally,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services said on Wednesday that the safety of the children is the agency’s top priority.
“When our agency receives a call to the Child Protection Hotline concerning allegations of child maltreatment, our social workers conduct a thorough investigation and work closely with families to address issues that may negatively impact child safety and well-being,” the agency said. “If abuse or neglect is confirmed and a child cannot remain safely at home, children may be required to move in with family members, close family friends or a foster family until their parents may regain custody.”
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to contact the Arcadia Police Department at 626-574-5168.
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