Surrogate mothers in the US report gaps in industry oversight — CBS News
In the United States, surrogate mothers described cases in which they did not know the true intended parents of the children, did not receive promised payments, or learned about parallel pregnancies of other women for the same clients. This is stated in a year-long CBS News investigation based on interviews with women and an analysis of hundreds of contracts and court documents.
According to journalists, embryo transfers for all 32 surrogate mothers they spoke with were performed in California, although some of them lived in other states. There is no official count of such births in the country, while industry representatives estimate their number at about 10,000 per year.
Surrogate mothers' complaints
Andrea, an immigrant from Honduras who lives in California, said that before entering into an agreement with the Creating Your Dreams Surrogacy agency, she met a young couple via video call. However, after giving birth in October 2024, an elderly couple she had never seen before arrived at the hospital to collect the baby. According to her, because of concerns about her immigration status and money that was still owed to her, she handed the child over to these people and received about $40,000 in total.
Another surrogate mother, Mayra Arli Hernandez, said that she gave birth to twins for the same couple in December 2024 and learned about their age — both turned 61 that year — during the embryo transfer. She said she did not know that the couple was working with other surrogate mothers and reported receiving $65,000. Creating Your Dreams Surrogacy CEO Carla Maeda said in a response to CBS News that she was confident the described situation could not have happened within her agency. She also assured that the agency conducts introductory calls and maintains open communication during pregnancy.
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Cases in California and lack of screening
Separately, CBS News described the case of an unmarried couple from Arcadia, California — Silvia Zhang and Gujun Xuan. In July 2025, they were arrested on charges of child endangerment. Police removed 21 children from their home, and at least five more children born to surrogate mothers after the arrests were taken into custody by authorities in other states.
CBS News spoke with 17 surrogate mothers for the couple; all said they did not know about such a large number of children. Zhang and Xuan deny wrongdoing and state in court documents that they planned to create a large family. According to police, the investigation is ongoing.
Attorney Melissa Brisman, who has represented both surrogate mothers and intended parents, said there are no laws regulating the number of surrogate mothers that intended parents can engage simultaneously. According to her, only New York state requires agencies to be licensed, and most states do not require intended parents to undergo criminal background checks.
