Rhianna Benson
Last year, Kayla Elliot was approached by a California couple who asked if she'd consider being a surrogate for their baby.
Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan, from the Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia, had told Elliot that they'd struggled with their own fertility for years, and that Zhang would likely never be able to carry her own child again.
Elliot's agency, Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC, had informed her that the couple already shared one teenage child together, and has since desperately been trying to conceive baby no. 2.
Touched by the fact that Zhang and Xuan had reportedly undergone 10 rounds of failed IVF treatments, Elliot immediately agreed, and carried their baby full term before giving birth.
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She was later informed that the family was moving to Cuba, and wished them well on their next big adventure.
Little did she know, however, that months later, the police would enter the couple's home and discover they had as many as 21 children, the vast majority of whom had been born from a plethora of different surrogate mothers, authorities say.
She also later learned that the agency Mark Surrogacy was actually registered to the couple’s home.
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Zhang and Xuan were arrested in May of this year on suspicion of both felony child endangerment and neglect.
According to local police their alleged crimes were exposed after a local hospital informed the police that the couple had arrived at the facility recently with a child that has a head injury.
Their nanny has also been accused of violently shaking the child, causing the infant to lose consciousness and prompt the parents to seek medical attention.
A warrant has been issued for her arrest, but she hasn't yet been located.
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While Zhang and Xuan are believed to have been unaware of their nanny's abuse, hospital staff believe they delayed their decision to bring the child into the facility for aid, likely due to the scene at their home.
After hearing that the child she'd carried for the couple was among the other kids being housed at the pair's property, Elliot claims she was horrified.
Speaking to NBC, she confessed: "I was a bit hysterical. "You just don’t expect that you’re going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on."
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Police discovered 15 children living at the property, as well as six who'd been placed into the care of Zhang and Xuan's friends and family.
The youngest child found was the two-month-old baby, while the eldest was 13.
Elliot is now fighting for custody of the baby she gave birth to, who is currently in foster care.
Recalling her labour, the surrogate added that she suspected something was off at the time, but forced herself to brush it off.
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As well as Zhang being late for the birth, Elliot says she hardly looked at her child afterwards. She also recalled Xuan handing her $2,000 in cash while she was still in her hospital bed.
"I don’t know what the motive was now, but it was just very, very not what you would expect out of somebody who really wanted a child," she claimed. "It was very transactional."
Police lieutenant Kollin Cieadlo told press: "We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother.
"There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children."
A text message from a phone associated with Zhang reportedly read: "Any accusations of wrongdoing are misguided and wrong.
"We look forward to vindicating any such claims at the appropriate time when and if any actions are brought."