Authorities take custody of 21 kids in California while surrogate moms claim couple misled them

Twenty-one children are in the custody of a California child-welfare agency while authorities investigate a Los Angeles-area couple and whether they misled surrogate mothers around the country.

Fifteen children were removed from the couple's opulent home in Arcadia after an abuse allegation in May, and another six living elsewhere were also located, Arcadia police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo said. They range in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3.

''We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother,'' he said. ''There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children.''

Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents, Cieadlo said.

They were arrested in May after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby, Arcadia police said. The child was not taken to the hospital for another two days.

Cieadlo said neglect charges were not formally pursued in order for an investigation to continue. The couple told police that they ''wanted a large family,'' the lieutenant said.

Zhang produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children, Cieadlo said.

He said the FBI is also part of the investigation. A spokesperson declined to comment when reached Wednesday by The Associated Press.

''I'm not familiar with how the surrogacy laws work,'' Cieadlo said. ''We need to do a much deeper dive.''

TV stations in Los Angeles quoted women who said they were surrogate mothers for the couple but that they didn't realize so many other surrogates were also involved.

It wasn't immediately clear if Zhang and Xuan had a lawyer who could speak on their behalf. Zhang did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Business records with the California Secretary of State show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was previously registered at the couple's address. The most recent filing shows the business license was terminated in June.

Kallie Fell, director of The Center for Bioethics and Culture, which believes surrogacy exploits women, posted a recent YouTube video of her interview with a Texas woman, Kayla Elliott, who gave birth last spring.

''She was lied to. She was told this couple had one other child and they wanted one more child to complete a family,'' Fell told The Associated Press. ''She didn't know they were the owners of the surrogacy agency. They operate with zero oversight.''

Elliott didn't return a request for comment. But she is trying to raise money to seek to have the child placed with her.

''I am prepared and deeply committed to providing that for her, but the legal process to secure placement is complex and costly,'' Elliott said in her appeal on the fundraising site GoFundMe.

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which removed the couple's children, said it could not talk about its actions in a specific case.