A shocking surrogacy scandal that resulted in one California couple having twenty-one children from six different women has some people questioning the lack of safeguards in the fertility industry.
Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, were arrested in May under suspicion for felony child endangerment and neglect after a two-month old baby that they were responsible for caring for was brought to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
Police conducted a broader investigation in conjunction with the FBI and found that the couple had twenty-one children in their care, all conceived by surrogacy arrangements involving six different women.
Police found video camera evidence that abuse at the household was commonplace, including hired nannies shaking babies and the parents engaged in physical and verbal abuse.
At this time, all twenty-one children have been placed in foster care and the FBI is in the process of trying to locate the surrogate mothers. (RELATED: After Millions in Political Donations, Does Planned Parenthood Even Need Government Funding?)
While the abusive acts committed against the children were illegal, California is one of fifteen states where paid surrogacy is legal, creating potentially risky situations for children like the one that took place in May.
Kallie Fell, executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, highlighted the risks of paid surrogacy.
“Everyone’s spidey senses should go up. The danger of the fertility industry is that it is unregulated. Anyone can open an agency. The problem is way bigger than this small story.”
Concerns about the fertility industry have included an increased risk of mortality and health issues for both the mother and the child, according to analysis by the Heritage Foundation. (RELATED: New Development Calls Legitimacy of Biden’s Presidential Pardons in to Question)
