The twisted Chinese couple accused of hoarding and abusing at least 26 children in their California mansion hatched the alleged population project because the patriarch wanted one of the kids to become the president of the US, according to a disturbing report.
Guojun Xuan and his partner Silvia Zhang allegedly exploited the state’s flimsy surrogacy laws to open their own agency, Mark Surrogacy, to amass the small armada of tykes — using Xuan’s sperm and an anonymous egg donor, The New Yorker reported.
Employees who worked at the couple’s mansion told the outlet that the 65-year-old patriarch was “a rich man who wants a lot of kids,” by any means necessary.
“A lot of rich people, they want to do sex parties or drugs. But he just wants to have more kids,” said Melody Song, a former aide to the Arcadia couple.
Befuddled employees who bore witness to the couple’s madness claimed that Xuan’s baby obsession hinged on a hope that one of the children would go on to become the president of the US.
Several of the children were named after prominent US politicians and foreign leaders — which Song suggested was out of jealousy, since Xuan isn’t a “natural-born” American and cannot run for president.
Zhang, 38, herself gave birth to two of Xuan’s sons — one in spring 2021 and another premature baby in summer 2022 — but that still wasn’t enough to please Xuan.
So they established Mark Surrogacy at their multi-million dollar mansion in Arcadia, posing as an unmarried couple who were desperate to give their daughter a sibling.
Their heartfelt plea attracted dozens of women — ranging from lesbians to “sort of trad” wives — who agreed to carry their children. Each mother, though, figured they were the only person carrying for the couple.
Because Xuan is the sole party biologically tied to all the children, he bears the legal right to them — but only in the instances when he and Zhang completed the necessary pre-birth orders, which confirms their parentage before the baby is due.
California is regarded as a prime state for surrogacy arrangements, since it allows pre-birth orders to solidify legal parentage. Zhang and Xuan, though, allegedly went a step further and opened their own surrogacy agency to establish a clear pipeline between themselves and would-be surrogates.
Commercial surrogacy is banned or highly restricted in most countries, but there are few standing regulations on the practice in the US. New York is the only state that requires a specialized license to open a surrogacy agency.
Before Zhang had Xuan’s sons, she posed as his assistant in surrogacy agreements dating back as far as 2019, the outlet reported.
Once they started running Mark Surrogacy, Xuan fell into the matronly role — which some surrogates didn’t buy.
Kayla Elliott, a mom of four from Texas, didn’t know that Xuan and Zhang were expecting more babies with other mothers, and already had 13 tykes at the time, until she was halfway through her pregnancy.
Elliott had met Xuan during the embryo transfer, where he was flanked by two Mark Surrogacy employees.
After the successful transfer, Xuan fastened a jade bracelet on Elliott’s wrist — which a translator said represented a symbol to join their family.
Each surrogate hired for Zhang and Xuan was gifted the same bracelet, the outlet reported.
Zhang and Xuan have repeatedly denied accusations that they were selling their children.
The couple were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and neglect in May 2025 after a 2-month-old baby in their care was brought to a local hospital with a traumatic brain injury. They are out on bond while a state child abuse investigation is underway.
Since their arrest, at least five more of their surrogates gave birth in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia, according to reports seen by The Post.
Many of the children’s legal statuses are still in limbo as some surrogate mothers fight for custody. The oldest child is 13 years old, and the youngest were just 2 months old at the time of the arrest.
Xuan and Zhang filed lawsuits against at least two expecting surrogates, both from Virginia, who cut off contact after the couple’s arrest.
Meanwhile, another darker rumor purported that the couple “were having kids for the American citizenship benefits and selling them to other people” — indicating the children were being trafficked.
Andrea Cid, a former Mark Surrogacy coordinator, told the outlet that the notion was crazy.
“Why would they think it’s trafficking if there’s children in the home? If there was trafficking, the children wouldn’t be there,” Cid queried.
The lengthy New Yorker piece also touched on Xuan’s increasingly erratic behavior in recent months, including carrying around business cards identifying him as a “Trump Doge Member,” “Official Trump Cabinet Member,” and “Trump Advisor,” though it doesn’t appear he ever had any official affiliation with the administration.
A coordinator for Mark Surrogacy, who wasn’t identified in the outlet’s report, disregarded Elliott’s concerns and said that the couple simply wanted “a large family.”
“They definitely don’t have a million kids lol,” the coordinator added.