California pair charged with abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children

A California pair has been charged with multiple counts of abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children - some as young as two months old - and dissuading a witness.

"The number of children who were subjected to this alleged horrific abuse is unprecedented," Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J Hochman said in a statement.

Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang, who US media describe as a couple, were arrested at their Arcadia mansion on Tuesday.

The pair pleaded not guilty at a Pasadena courthouse, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.

Xuan, 66, and Zhang, 39, are accused of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their home to repeated physical abuse, after 21 children were removed from their custody last year.

The pair ran their own surrogacy company and are accused of making false statements to at least two women who became surrogates, indicating that Zhang was struggling to conceive, according to the criminal complaint.

As of May 2025, Zhang maintained a spreadsheet that tracked 21 children, including those born to surrogates.

Officials said the investigation began that month when Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to the hospital with a head injury, telling medical staff that the baby had fallen from a bed.