California couple arrested on child abuse charges in horrifying surrogacy probe

A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children ranging in age from a few months to 13 years, authorities said Tuesday.

Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan face several counts of child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact, and dissuading a witness, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

“This case is unprecedented. It is horrific. And the physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received, is despicable,” Hochman said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors are seeking a $100 million bail for the couple because of the serious nature of the charges and due to their flight risk potential, Hochman said. They will be arraigned at the Pasadena courthouse later Tuesday.

Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s opulent home in Arcadia last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located. They ranged in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children while the rest were born by surrogate.

Hochman said the couple set up a surrogacy agency that they operated from their home and used that agency to hire surrogates throughout the US.

“The house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredible young children,” Hochman said.

Zhang and Xuan were first arrested in May 2025 after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby, according to Arcadia police.

Arcadia police did not file charges at the time, in order to finish a full investigation, they said.

21 children removed from California home amid abuse investigation and claims of surrogate mothers being misled

Hochman said the couple set up three rooms they called learning centers, where the children spent several hours a day sitting at desks under the supervision of nannies.

Through an extensive surveillance system including motion-activated cameras, the couple watched as their nannies subjected the children to daily beatings and physical abuse, he said.

The nannies were told “not to leave any physical marks on the children,” Hochman said.

Before police arrived to investigate in May 2025, Zhang and Xuan told the children to deny they had been beaten.

Police examined surveillance footage that showed the nannies beating the children. They issued an arrest warrant for the nanny seen hurting a 2-month-old infant, Chunmei Li, but she could not be found.

“There will be a reckoning” for the defendants, one of whom faces more than 17 years in prison if convicted, Hochman said.

When asked about the couple’s motivation, Hochman said that was part of the ongoing investigation, as is the parentage of each of the children.

Mitchell Krems, Xuan’s attorney, previously told ABC7 that Xuan’s goal was to raise children who become productive adults.

“The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society. He is not a man who is self-indulgent,” Krems said. “Some who are wealthy might spend on jewelry or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated so that they can be the philosophers, the physicians, the researchers and the inventors that help society.”

Krems did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Tuesday’s arrests.

Surrogacy is an agreement between parties to have a woman become pregnant, typically through an embryo transfer, and deliver a baby for another parent.

The practice has no federal regulation, leaving it up to states to set the rules if they choose to allow it.

California is considered a “surrogacy-friendly state” because it has clear laws governing the process. Both sides are required to have lawyers, and there must be a written, notarized contract before an embryo transfer takes place.

Investigators have said they were looking into whether the couple had misled surrogates around the country. At least eight women had come forward to say they were aggressively pursued by the couple to serve as surrogates.

The women, many of whom were first-time surrogates, say they were given misleading or incomplete information about the couple’s family situation and intentions.

At least one, Kayla Elliott, is now trying to get custody of a baby she birthed for the couple.

加州当局周二表示，一对夫妇因涉嫌虐待儿童被捕，此前一项代孕计划调查显示，至少有 21 名儿童（年龄从几个月到 13 岁不等）受到伤害。

洛杉矶县地方检察官内森·霍克曼表示，张思薇和她的丈夫宣国军面临多项虐待儿童、共谋虐待儿童、事后从犯和妨碍证人作证的指控。

“这起案件史无前例，令人发指。这些年幼的孩子遭受的身体虐待、殴打和惩罚令人发指，”霍克曼在周二上午的新闻发布会上说。

霍克曼表示，鉴于指控性质严重且这对夫妇有潜逃风险，检方寻求对他们设定1亿美元的保释金。他们将于周二晚些时候在帕萨迪纳法院出庭受审。

去年，警方接到虐待儿童的指控后，从这对夫妇位于阿卡迪亚的豪宅中带走了15名儿童，另有6名儿童被找到，他们居住在其他地方。这些儿童年龄从2个月到13岁不等，大多数在1到3岁之间。警方认为，张某亲生了其中一两个孩子，其余孩子则由代孕母亲所生。

霍克曼说，这对夫妇成立了一家代孕机构，在家中经营，并通过该机构在美国各地雇佣代孕母亲。

“对于这些令人难以置信的幼童来说，这栋房子简直就是一座恐怖之屋，”霍克曼说道。

据阿卡迪亚警方称，张某和宣某于 2025 年 5 月首次被捕，此前一家医院报告称，他们 2 个月大的婴儿头部受到创伤性损伤，原因是家中的保姆用力摇晃婴儿。

阿卡迪亚警方表示，当时没有提出指控，是为了完成全面调查。

加州一户人家中发生虐待儿童事件，21名儿童被带离家中，同时有人指控代孕母亲受到误导。

霍克曼说，这对夫妇设立了三个房间，称之为学习中心，孩子们每天在保姆的监督下坐在书桌前几个小时。

他说，通过包括动作感应摄像头在内的广泛监控系统，这对夫妇亲眼目睹了他们的保姆每天对孩子们进行殴打和身体虐待。

霍克曼说，保姆们被告知“不要在孩子身上留下任何身体痕迹”。

2025年5月，警方到场调查之前，张和宣告诉孩子们否认自己被打过。

警方查看了监控录像，录像显示保姆殴打孩子。他们对被拍到虐待两个月大婴儿李春梅的保姆发出了逮捕令，但未能找到她。

霍克曼说，被告们“必将受到清算”，其中一人如果罪名成立，将面临超过 17 年的监禁。

当被问及这对夫妇的动机时，霍克曼表示，这是正在进行的调查的一部分，每个孩子的亲生父母身份也是如此。

Xuan的律师Mitchell Krems此前告诉ABC7电视台，Xuan的目标是培养出能够成为有为成年人的孩子。

克雷姆斯说：“他之所以生这么多孩子，是因为他希望他们能为社会做出贡献。他不是一个自我放纵的人。有些富人可能会把钱花在珠宝或汽车上，但他却把资源用于帮助孩子们接受教育，让他们将来成为哲学家、医生、研究人员和发明家，为社会做出贡献。”

克雷姆斯没有立即回复记者通过电子邮件发出的关于周二逮捕事件的置评请求。

代孕是指双方达成协议，让一名女性怀孕（通常是通过胚胎移植），并为另一位父母分娩。

这种做法没有联邦监管，是否允许这种做法由各州自行制定规则。

加州被认为是“代孕友好州”，因为它有明确的法律规范代孕流程。双方都必须聘请律师，并且在胚胎移植前必须签订书面公证合同。

调查人员表示，他们正在调查这对夫妇是否误导了全国各地的代孕母亲。至少有八名女性站出来称，这对夫妇曾积极追求她们，希望她们成为代孕母亲。

这些女性中许多人都是第一次做代孕母亲，她们表示，她们被告知了有关这对夫妇家庭情况和意图的误导性或不完整信息。

至少其中一人，凯拉·艾略特，现在正试图争取她为这对夫妇所生孩子的监护权。