According to them, they simply wanted a large family, and they are currently investigated for misleading surrogate mothers.
Twenty-one children are in the custody of a California child-welfare agency while authorities investigate a Los Angeles-area couple and whether they misled surrogate mothers around the country.
Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s opulent home in Arcadia after an abuse allegation in May,
Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents, Cieadlo said.
The couple told police that they “wanted a large family,” the lieutenant said.
Zhang produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children, Cieadlo said.
Not sure how prosecutable this offense is, but this will probably be crucial later:
Kallie Fell, director of The Center for Bioethics and Culture, which believes surrogacy exploits women, posted a recent YouTube video of her interview with a Texas woman, Kayla Elliott, who gave birth last spring.
“She was lied to. She was told this couple had one other child and they wanted one more child to complete a family,” Fell told The Associated Press. “She didn’t know they were the owners of the surrogacy agency. They operate with zero oversight.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/us/california-children-removed-abuse-surrogacy-hnk
And they could’ve gotten away with this if not for a meddling, inpatient nanny.