Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan were arrested in Arcadia, California, on October 6, 2026, facing child abuse conspiracy charges involving 21 children. Prosecutors alleged the couple operated a surrogacy ring and subjected young children to severe punishments inside a multimillion-dollar mansion monitored by dozens of cameras.
A Southern California couple accused of amassing 21 children through a sprawling surrogacy operation pleaded not guilty Tuesday to felony charges after law enforcement raided their lavish residence in Arcadia, California.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters that investigators uncovered a system where toddlers were subjected to rigorous daily routines and severe discipline inside the couple’s property in the 600 block of West Camino Real Avenue, a mansion located 20 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
What has been publicly filed in the complaint today is incredibly disturbing. It involves horrific punishment and beatings and child abuse.
Nathan J. Hochman, Los Angeles District Attorney, via CBS News
Hospital Visit Exposes Abuse
The criminal inquiry began in May 2025 after Zhang brought their 2-month-old son to the hospital. Medical personnel determined the infant was suffering from a traumatic head injury. Doctors doubted Zhang’s explanation and notified law enforcement, according to Arcadia police statements.
When Arcadia police officers responded to the residence on May 7, 2025, what they discovered raised even more serious concerns. Investigators eventually removed 15 children from the home last year, while another six children living at separate locations were subsequently located. The children ranged in age from two months to 13 years old, with the majority between one and three, and authorities confirmed that 14 of them were identified as abuse victims.
Law enforcement officials stated that the children were placed into designated learning rooms for hours each day under the supervision of live-in nannies. Prosecutors alleged that the entire property was monitored by 32 motion-activated CCTV cameras that fed footage to a television near the parents’ desk, allowing the couple to monitor the discipline given by nannies and at times laugh at the abuse.
In another situation, defendant Xuan entered one of the learning centers while a nanny was striking a child, and instructed the nanny to strike the child harder.
Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County District Attorney, via NBC News
Surrogates Recruited by Company
Authorities said the couple started a company based at the house—initially known as Mark Surrogacy and currently operating as Future Spring Surrogacy. Through the agency, the couple recruited women from across the United States to carry biological children.
Prosecutors alleged that Xuan and Zhang misled prospective surrogates about their family circumstances. Some women were reportedly told that the couple could not conceive naturally and begged for a miracle baby, while others were not informed that the parents already had a large number of children; for example, one surrogate was paid $135,000, and another seven months pregnant surrogate was never told the couple already had 16 children. Surrogates were reportedly paid up to $75,000 per surrogacy, according to court documents cited by the San Bernardino Sun.
Maria Castellanos, a surrogate who carried two children for the couple, expressed frustration after learning of the arrests. I trusted Silvia,
Castellanos told CBS News, adding that she was angry with the entire process for failing to protect the children.
Judge Sets Lower Bail Than Requested
During Tuesday afternoon’s arraignment, prosecutors requested a $100 million bail for each defendant, pointing to the severity of the charges and flight risk concerns.
A judge set bail at $20 million for each defendant, ordering home detention and issuing a protective order barring them from visiting their children. Mitchell Krems, the attorney representing Xuan, called the bond amount absurd
given the charges.
Krems defended his client’s motivations and disputed the accusations of abuse, stating that Xuan wanted a large family to foster future contributions to society. 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 told ABC News.
That nanny, Chunmei Li, was charged in May 2025 with felony child abuse and remains the subject of an arrest warrant while on the run, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office and court records.
Krems also requested leniency regarding Zhang’s health, noting in court that she appears in a wheelchair and is recovering from a bone marrow transplant to treat a rare form of leukemia. All 21 children remain in the protective custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services while a federal investigation continues alongside local proceedings.