Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang, the Arcadia couple accused of running a surrogacy operation where children were allegedly abused inside their home, remain jailed in lieu of $20 million bail each as their attorneys prepare to ask a judge Friday to let them go free. The pair pleaded not guilty last week to charges including conspiracy to commit child abuse, and their case is scheduled to resume at the Pasadena courthouse on Friday.
Xuan, 66, was supposed to return to court Monday, but he did not appear because of a medical issue, according to mynewsla.com. His attorney told the outlet that Xuan has a rare form of leukemia and is recovering from a bone marrow transplant, which pushed Zhang's hearing back to Friday as well. Defense attorneys said they believe both Xuan and Zhang should be released on their own recognizance, a request their lawyer Mitchell Krems also outlined to ABC7 Los Angeles.
Charges Stem From a 2025 Injury Report
The investigation traces back to May 2025, when an infant was hospitalized with a traumatic head injury and bleeding in the brain, the same mynewsla.com report states. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Special Victims Bureau took over the case that September, and prosecutors now allege the couple monitored disciplinary practices inside their home through a network of 32 surveillance cameras.
Xuan is charged with one felony count each of conspiracy to commit child abuse, child abuse and accessory after the fact, along with five counts of dissuading a witness, per the same account. Zhang faces one count each of conspiracy to commit child abuse and accessory after the fact, plus four counts of dissuading a witness. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office confirmed the conspiracy charges in a statement tied to case number 26PDCF00918.
Allegations of a Beating Caught on Camera
The criminal complaint alleges that Xuan instructed a nanny to hit a child harder and then participated in the beating himself, according to the mynewsla.com report. Prosecutors allege the couple employed nannies who abused children at the residence and that they misled surrogates through their surrogacy company. Reports differ on exactly how many children lived in the home: mynewsla.com reported 14 children born through surrogates, ages 2 months to 5 years, along with two other children, while NBC Los Angeles reported detectives found nearly two dozen children ranging from 2 months to 13 years old, and OANN put the figure at 21 surrogate-born children.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman described the residence as a house of horrors, and court documents allegedly show video recordings of nannies physically abusing children as punishment. Prosecutors initially sought $100 million bail for each defendant, but a judge said that amount would be tantamount to no bail and instead set it at $20 million apiece, according to mynewsla.com. If released, Xuan and Zhang would have to surrender their passports and submit to electronic monitoring and home detention.
Defense Pushes Back on Wealth and Bias Claims
Prosecutors have cited Xuan's access to roughly 200 bank accounts and at least 70 corporate accounts worth a combined value exceeding $100 million, a figure reported by ABC7 Los Angeles. Krems has argued the bail request itself was absurd at $100 million per defendant and has said his clients were unfairly targeted because they are Chinese and have a large family. He told ABC7 Los Angeles that his client is not abusive whatsoever and maintained there is no law against having many children.
The case also comes amid broader scrutiny of how little the surrogacy industry is regulated in California. A surrogacy attorney told NBC Los Angeles that the only requirement to open a surrogacy business is obtaining a business license, and the Center for Bioethics and Culture's executive director said the Arcadia case has exposed serious concerns about the lack of regulation in the surrogacy industry, particularly in the state. The outlet also reported that screening processes for intended parents, donors and surrogates are not required by any regulatory agency.
Years of Red Flags, Now an Active Probe
The Los Angeles Times reported that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services received seven referrals involving Xuan or Zhang between 2019 and 2025, and separately reported that the FBI's investigation into the couple's surrogacy operation focuses on potential money laundering and surrogacy fraud crimes. The couple also operated a business that allowed them to hire surrogate mothers from across the United States, according to NBC Los Angeles. AP News has described the matter as a California surrogacy probe involving at least 21 children.
For now, the case remains pending, with both sides set to make their arguments over release at Friday's hearing in Pasadena.
