Women say they were tricked into surrogacy for California couple after 21 children removed from home

ARCADIA, Cali. (KTLA) — Surrogate moms from Texas to Florida thought they were carrying a baby for a Southern California couple struggling to have a second child due to infertility. Then, the women discovered they were all surrogates for the same couple, some at the same time, with the babies now in foster care.

Twenty-one children, ranging in age from two months to 13 years old, have been taken into protective custody.

Kayla, a 27-year-old from Texas, was among the women who decided to become surrogates.

“I love being pregnant, but was done growing my own family, so I thought what better way to experience pregnancy at the same time as grow their family,” Kayla told Nexstar’s KTLA.

Through an agency called Mark Surrogacy, Kayla was matched with a couple in Arcadia, California. After a successful embryo transfer via IVF, she gave birth to their baby on March 13.

Two months later, Kayla was shocked to learn the baby she carried was no longer with the intended parents. The child had been placed in foster care.

“It was something I never would have expected to happen—something almost unbelievable unless you’re living it,” she said.

Kayla later found out that the baby she carried wasn’t the only one removed from the home. Multiple children had been taken into protective custody.

KTLA spoke with three other women who say they were also surrogates for the same Arcadia couple. One of the women delivered in Florida in June — tragically, the baby was stillborn.

Two Los Angeles County surrogates say they also carried for this couple, one who gave birth in March, another who had two babies: one in 2022, another in 2024. The women say they all worked with Mark Surrogacy.

Public records list an Arcadia home as the address for Mark Surrogacy and also as the residence of Silvia Zhang, the woman the surrogates say they carried for. In early May, Arcadia police launched a child abuse investigation, responding to that same home after a two-month-old baby was hospitalized with head trauma.

Arcadia police say the baby’s legal parents, Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment/neglect with warrants served on May 9. They were later released.  

Police allege a nanny abused the baby, and the parents delayed seeking medical care for two days. The Department of Children and Family Services also investigated and removed all children from the couple’s custody, 21 children in total.

Police say the children range in age from two months to 13 years old.

They also told KTLA that Silvia Zhang was able to show that she is the legal mom on all of their birth certificates.

In recent months, Mark Surrogacy has filed paperwork to terminate the company, according to public records. 

But a surrogate in Pennsylvania, who asked to remain anonymous due to contractual restrictions, says she is currently pregnant with a child for Mark Surrogacy.

“We are carrying for Mark Surrogacy, and we are 26 weeks,” she told KTLA. “It really hit hard when all of this came through.”

Via a text message from a phone associated with Zhang, KTLA was told, “Any accusations of wrongdoing are misguided and wrong. We look forward to vindicating any such claims at the appropriate time when and if any actions are brought.”

The baby who was allegedly abused in early May remains hospitalized. While the parents have been arrested, police say they have not been able to locate the nanny accused of injuring the child.

Arcadia Police allege that 56-year-old nanny Chunmei Li was captured on home security video violently shaking the baby.

Of the 21 children removed, 15 were from the Arcadia home and six from another location where they were receiving childcare at the time.

Police also say they have evidence of additional abuse involving other nannies, and plan to present their findings to the District Attorney soon.

Kayla has started a GoFundMe campaign for legal fees so she can try to get custody of the child she delivered, and says she has been interviewed by the FBI. 

Experts in the surrogacy community told KTLA this case shows the importance of the need for additional regulations. Currently, there are no federal regulations on surrogacy, and laws vary state by state.

In California, for example, there are no licensing requirements for starting a surrogacy agency, Sunshine Hanson, the founder and president of Surrogacy Is, explained.