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A couple from Arcadia, California, has been charged with multiple counts of child abuse involving at least 14 children born through surrogacy arrangements, some of whom were only two months old, according to authorities in Los Angeles County. The case, which prosecutors describe as unprecedented in scale, has raised serious questions about oversight of the surrogacy industry in the United States.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, were taken into custody at their Arcadia mansion on Tuesday. The pair appeared at a Pasadena courthouse, where they entered not guilty pleas to the charges against them, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. The couple is accused of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their home to repeated physical abuse, as well as dissuading a witness.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J Hochman issued a stark statement about the severity of the allegations. "The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented," he said. Hochman later characterised the couple's residence as a "house of horrors," describing the conditions that investigators allegedly uncovered inside the property.
The investigation into the couple began in May 2025, when Zhang reportedly brought a two-month-old boy to a hospital with a head injury. She told medical staff that the infant had fallen from a bed, according to officials. Hospital personnel alerted law enforcement, prompting a police visit to the couple's home. That initial response ultimately uncovered far more than a single incident of suspected harm.
When officers arrived at the mansion, they discovered three separate rooms that had been designated as "learning centres," each operating under the supervision of multiple nannies. Prosecutors allege the property was equipped with 32 motion-activated cameras, which Hochman said the couple used to monitor the discipline administered by the nannies. Footage from those cameras allegedly captured nannies spanking, slapping or striking the children in their care.
One nanny, identified as 58-year-old Chunmei Li, stands accused of hitting the two-month-old infant who sustained the head injury, allegedly two days before the child was brought to the hospital. Li has been charged separately with one felony count of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Hochman stated that she remains at large, with an arrest warrant issued for $105,000 (approximately £88,800). According to the couple's lawyer, Mitchell Krems, Li was fired promptly after the incident came to light.
The broader investigation moved forward in July 2025, when authorities raided the couple's home for the first time. During that operation, 21 children were taken into state custody. The Arcadia Police Department reported at the time that the children ranged in age from two months to 13 years old, though the majority were between one and three years old. Of those 21 children, 15 were removed directly from the couple's residence, while the remaining six had been living elsewhere and were also subsequently taken into custody.
According to the criminal complaint, Xuan and Zhang operated their own surrogacy company. Prosecutors allege they made false statements to at least two women who became surrogates, telling them that Zhang was struggling to conceive. As of May 2025, Zhang is said to have maintained a spreadsheet tracking 21 children, including those born to surrogates. Investigators believe the surrogate mothers came from various parts of the country and were unaware that they were carrying embryos for the same couple simultaneously.
The defence has pushed back against the allegations. Krems, the couple's lawyer, described the accusation as a "mischaracterisation" based on the evidence he has reviewed, according to CBS News in Los Angeles. He further stated that his client Xuan is innocent. "He is being targeted for exercising his constitutional right to have a large family," Krems told the outlet. The legal team's response signals that the case may hinge on sharply contested interpretations of the evidence, including the video footage and the circumstances under which the children were disciplined.
The case has also drawn attention from those involved in the surrogacy arrangements. Melissa Brisman, an attorney representing two of the surrogates, welcomed the charges. "This is wonderful news that people will be held responsible for their actions and there will be consequences if you abuse the surrogacy system," she told CBS News. Her comments reflect a broader concern that the alleged conduct exploited both the women who carried the children and the children themselves.
If convicted as charged, the couple faces substantial prison time. Xuan could receive a maximum sentence of 17 years and four months in state prison, while Zhang faces up to 11 years and eight months. Li, the nanny accused of striking the infant, faces up to 12 years if convicted. The charges against all three defendants underscore the gravity with which California authorities are treating the allegations.
The case raises difficult questions about the regulation of surrogacy in the United States, where laws vary widely from state to state and oversight of intended parents is often limited. The allegation that multiple surrogates were unknowingly carrying embryos for the same couple at the same time points to potential gaps in the system that attorneys and advocates say could leave both surrogates and children vulnerable to exploitation. The spreadsheet tracking 21 children, if verified, suggests a level of coordination that investigators believe was concealed from the women involved.
For now, the children remain in state custody as the legal process unfolds. The couple's not guilty pleas mean the case is likely to proceed through the courts, where prosecutors will rely on evidence including the surveillance footage and testimony from nannies and medical personnel. The outcome could set a significant precedent for how surrogacy-related abuse cases are prosecuted in California and beyond.
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