A couple from California has been arrested after it was discovered that they had 21 children through surrogate mothers, allegedly as part of a human trafficking operation.
Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, were taken into custody for felony child endangerment after police arrived at their $4.1 million residence in Arcadia.
Inside, they found the couple’s huge brood of children which included 17 toddlers aged three or under.
The police had initially responded to a report of a two-month-old with a serious head injury. A subsequent search of the home uncovered 15 children, ranging in age from two months to 13 years, under their care.
Detectives said six other children had also been moved to other homes. All 21 children were taken into the custody of Department of Children and Family Services.
Xuan and Zhang were later released and have not been officially charged. Cops also issued an arrest warrant for their nanny Chunmei Li, 56.
Investigators said security cameras inside the home allegedly revealed Li was abusing the children, while questions remain over why Xuan and Zhang bore so many children through surrogacy.
Although having dozens of children through surrogates is not illegal, officials said they are investigating the startling find inside the home.
Kallie Fell, executive director of the nonprofit Center of Bioethics and Culture, told ABC7 that while the couple may not have broken the law by having so many surrogate children, the situation ‘smells of trafficking.’
Guojun Xuan, 65, (pictured) and his partner Silvia Zhang, 38, were arrested for felony child endangerment this week after cops found they had 21 children from surrogate mothers
Zhang (pictured) and Xuan allegedly had 15 children in their home aged between two months and 13-years-old, and six other children had also been moved to other homes
Security cameras inside their home (pictured) allegedly showed the couple’s nanny was abusing the children, and she is also being sought by cops
It is unclear what the couple do for work, with public records showing they are connected to a number of investment firms
Arcadia police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said that the couple ‘took legal guardianship of those kids’ after they were born through surrogates, before Li allegedly abused the children as their nanny.
‘The discipline, both verbally and physical, was severe to the point where it supported the beliefs that child abuse was occurring inside the home Cieadlo said.
The Arcadia police said the FBI has joined its investigation into a suspected mass-surrogacy operation owned and ran by Xuan and Zhang.
Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers hired by the couple, said she believed that they were clients of a surrogate agency.
‘It’s horrific, it’s disturbing, it’s damaging emotionally,’ she told ABC7.
Officials issued an arrest warrant for their nanny Chunmei Li, 56, (pictured), who allegedly abused the children ‘verbally and physically’
Kayla Elliot, one of the surrogate mothers hired by the couple, said she believed that the couple were clients of a surrogate agency, and told her they only had one other child
Elliot said she is now hoping to regain custody of the child she bore for the couple, and described the allegations as ‘horrific, disturbing, (and) damaging emotionally’
Elliot said the couple told her they only had one other child, and is now hoping to get custody of the child she bore for them.
‘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,’ she added.
Fell, who is working with Elliot, said that the surrogacy industry is unregulated, and oftentimes, ‘anything goes.’
‘And these clinics, these agencies are not regulated by any governing body,’ she said.
‘That to me smells of trafficking… What are the intentions of having that many children at home through these assisted reproductive technologies?’
