Sens. Tom Cotton and Rick Scott are urging the Justice Department to investigate foreign-operated surrogacy centers in the United States following reports that Chinese nationals have fathered large numbers of children born in the United States through what the lawmakers describe as a coordinated scheme.
In a letter sent Thursday to Pam Bondi, the senators cited allegations that some surrogacy agencies run by Chinese nationals “cater almost exclusively to wealthy Chinese clients” and, in certain cases, are affiliated with Chinese state-owned entities.
The issue gained national attention after reports about Guojun Xuan, identified as a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official, and his partner Silvia Zhang. The couple allegedly used California’s surrogacy system to have at least 26 children using Xuan’s sperm and an anonymous egg donor. Authorities began investigating in 2025 after a two-month-old infant in Xuan’s care was hospitalized with head injuries. Investigators later discovered more than two dozen children connected to the couple, ranging from infants to teenagers.
Xuan and Zhang, who operated a surrogacy agency called Mark Surrogacy out of their Arcadia home, are reportedly out on bond while a state child abuse investigation continues. Several surrogate mothers have since sought custody of the children they carried after learning the scope of the alleged operation. According to attorneys representing some surrogates, they were led to believe the couple only intended to have one additional child.
The senators’ concerns were amplified by reporting from Breitbart News Senior Contributor Peter Schweizer in his book The Invisible Coup: How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon. Schweizer wrote that Chinese elites have used the American surrogacy industry to secure birthright citizenship for their children. Records he reviewed indicate at least 107 California-based companies containing the word “surrogacy” are Chinese-owned.
According to the senators’ letter, Chinese nationals have paid American women more than $50,000 to serve as surrogates, with children born on American soil obtaining automatic citizenship under the 14th Amendment. The infants are then taken to China and raised there.
The letter also references another reported case in which a Chinese billionaire is said to have fathered more than 100 American-born children through surrogacy, allegedly with the goal of producing heirs who hold American passports.
“These children will eventually be eligible to vote in American elections, access sensitive positions, or otherwise advance Beijing’s interests,” Cotton and Scott wrote. “This not only exploits our current immigration and citizenship laws, but also raises serious concerns whether this is a deliberate, long-term strategy by an adversary to ideologically and systematically undermine the United States.”
The lawmakers asked the Department of Justice to determine whether any federal statutes — including immigration fraud, human trafficking, or foreign-agent registration laws — may have been violated. They also requested data on how many surrogacy clinics nationwide are operated by foreign nationals and how many are owned or controlled by Chinese nationals.
According to reporting cited by the New York Post and The New Yorker, Xuan has held positions linked to the CCP, including serving as a deputy of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regional People’s Congress. He has also reportedly claimed ties to American political figures that could not be substantiated.
The controversy has also inspired public demonstrations. Earlier this month, a billboard truck appeared outside China’s U.S. Embassy in Washington, D.C., criticizing birth tourism and surrogacy practices while promoting Schweizer’s book.
Surrogacy laws vary widely by state, and California is considered one of the most surrogacy-friendly jurisdictions in the country. Currently, there is no federal law specifically regulating the surrogacy industry.
The Justice Department has not yet publicly responded to the senators’ request. Cotton and Scott asked for answers by March 13, arguing that the matter raises significant national security and immigration policy concerns.
READ NEXT: Chinese Nationals Ran Military Marriage Fraud Scheme
