California Couple Accused of Misleading Surrogates Amid Embryo Scandal and Child Abuse Charges
A devastating story of exploitation and deception has emerged in California, where a couple allegedly misled multiple surrogate mothers across the country to carry their embryos at the same time. The investigation, led by law enforcement agencies, has also revealed shocking charges of child abuse and neglect.
At the center of this alleged scam is Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC, a company registered to Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang's home address in Arcadia, California. Public filings reveal that Zhang was listed as the manager of the company. The couple reportedly reached out to numerous surrogate mothers through social media groups, touting themselves as desperate parents seeking surrogacy due to their inability to conceive after 10 attempts.
However, an alleged victim, Kayla Elliott, has come forward to share her harrowing experience with the couple. A first-time surrogate mother, Elliott gave birth to a child in March, only to have the baby placed in foster care. She is now fighting to gain custody of the child and has been contacted by the FBI.
Elliott described being "preyed upon" by the couple, who she claims lied about their reasons for seeking surrogacy. "We were lied to about so much... it's disgusting," Elliott said. Her experience highlights the vulnerable position many surrogate mothers find themselves in when dealing with unscrupulous individuals or companies.
The investigation has also led to arrest charges against Xuan and Zhang, who are accused of felony child endangerment in connection to a possible child abuse incident involving a 2-month-old baby. Security footage from their property showed a nanny violently shaking and hitting the infant, resulting in severe head trauma. The nanny, Chunmei Li, remains on the run.
Police have confirmed that 21 children are currently in protective care, with 15 of them taken from the same mansion in Southern California where the alleged abuse took place. The couple has yet to enter a plea or respond to requests for comment.
As the investigation continues, questions remain about how many surrogate mothers were misled by the couple and what measures can be taken to protect these vulnerable individuals.
A devastating story of exploitation and deception has emerged in California, where a couple allegedly misled multiple surrogate mothers across the country to carry their embryos at the same time. The investigation, led by law enforcement agencies, has also revealed shocking charges of child abuse and neglect.
At the center of this alleged scam is Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC, a company registered to Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang's home address in Arcadia, California. Public filings reveal that Zhang was listed as the manager of the company. The couple reportedly reached out to numerous surrogate mothers through social media groups, touting themselves as desperate parents seeking surrogacy due to their inability to conceive after 10 attempts.
However, an alleged victim, Kayla Elliott, has come forward to share her harrowing experience with the couple. A first-time surrogate mother, Elliott gave birth to a child in March, only to have the baby placed in foster care. She is now fighting to gain custody of the child and has been contacted by the FBI.
Elliott described being "preyed upon" by the couple, who she claims lied about their reasons for seeking surrogacy. "We were lied to about so much... it's disgusting," Elliott said. Her experience highlights the vulnerable position many surrogate mothers find themselves in when dealing with unscrupulous individuals or companies.
The investigation has also led to arrest charges against Xuan and Zhang, who are accused of felony child endangerment in connection to a possible child abuse incident involving a 2-month-old baby. Security footage from their property showed a nanny violently shaking and hitting the infant, resulting in severe head trauma. The nanny, Chunmei Li, remains on the run.
Police have confirmed that 21 children are currently in protective care, with 15 of them taken from the same mansion in Southern California where the alleged abuse took place. The couple has yet to enter a plea or respond to requests for comment.
As the investigation continues, questions remain about how many surrogate mothers were misled by the couple and what measures can be taken to protect these vulnerable individuals.
This is like a bad sitcom where you can't look away! I mean, who tries to scam surrogate moms just to get their babies? It's like they thought, "You know what would be a great idea? Let's convince multiple women to carry our kids for us and then just take them away when we don't need them anymore!" 
But still, a 2-month-old baby needs some TLC, you know? It's not like they can just shake their heads and say "Oh well, that's life now!" 
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this whole thing is super messed up... like what kind of people do that? using social media to find vulnerable surrogates and taking advantage of them like that. it's just disgusting. and the fact that they're accused of child abuse too, with that poor nanny... it's just heartbreaking. 
It's just not right. And to think there could be more surrogate mothers out there who got taken advantage of by this couple... it's like, what's being done to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future? We need to make sure these people are held accountable and that anyone going through surrogacy is protected from exploitation.
The fact that the parents are still free, waiting for their day in court, is just not fair. They need to be held accountable for what happened.
this is so wrong, people should never be exploited like that, surrogate mothers need protection, they're literally carrying someone else's child for them & getting nothing in return 
... I mean, can you believe people would do this to others? Like, these surrogate moms are already putting their own bodies at risk for someone else's child, and then these two (Xuan and Zhang) go and take advantage of them?! 
It's like, they're taking advantage of the system that's supposed to help families start families. And now it sounds like there was even actual abuse happening in this mansion? 
I don't know what's more shocking, the fact that these people were lying to all those surrogate moms or that they were allegedly harming a 2-month-old baby... it's just disgusting. 
I'm literally shaking my head over this 
what kind of company is this mark surrogacy investment llc supposed to be? sounds super sketchy 
Can you believe this? Like, who tries to scam people out of their fertility? "Hey, I'm a struggling couple with 10 failed pregnancies! We need a surrogate ASAP!" Meanwhile, they're over here getting rich off the poor souls' eggs and gestational surrogacy fees 
. And then they get caught up in child abuse charges... talk about a messed up life 
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And to think the baby was literally shaken and hit by a nanny...it's just horrific! 
. I mean, who does that? These people are literally preying on unsuspecting women who are already going through so much emotional turmoil and financial strain. And now we're talking child abuse charges? That's just a whole new level of messed up. I feel for Kayla Elliott, poor thing is going through way too much already. 21 kids in protective care? That's just heartbreaking 
. And what about the surrogate mothers who were lied to? How many of them are okay, and how did they get caught up in this whole mess? We need some serious answers here 
we need to make sure these surrogate mothers are protected and that companies like this one can't get away with this kind of exploitation 