By Suzanne Stevens, KRIS
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A mother of four from Corpus Christi believed she was giving a California couple a gift: helping grow their family by carrying a child through surrogacy. But Kayla Elliott’s act of generosity has turned into a legal and emotional nightmare. Elliott said she was led to believe the intended parents had one child and had spent a decade trying unsuccessfully to conceive again.
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“I thought this was perfect,” Elliott said. “Just what I was looking for — someone who was struggling. They seemed sweet, so I jumped in.”
But after the pregnancy began, she said communication from the couple became distant and inconsistent.
“The agency’s excuse was, ‘Oh, they’re so busy — they’re business people, they just don’t have time,’” she said. “In my head I’m thinking — if you don’t have time, how do you have time to raise a baby?”
Concerns deepened after the baby, named Hays, was born in March.
“The mother was cold,” Elliott recalled. “She didn’t even hold the baby. It was very transactional, it wasn’t what I was expecting, it was terrible.”
Then, in May, Elliott received a devastating call: the couple, 38 year old Silvia Zhang and 65 year old Guojun Xuan had been arrested. Their California home had been raided by federal agents, and 21 children — all reportedly born through surrogacy — were taken into protective custody. One of the infants in the couple’s care was in the hospital after security camera footage showed one of the nanny’s violently shaking it according to police.
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Silvia Zhang, 38, of Arcadia was arrested May 9 on suspicion of child endangerment. (Photo courtesy of the Arcadia Police Department)
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Silvia Zhang, 38, of Arcadia was arrested May 9 on suspicion of child endangerment. (Photo courtesy of the Arcadia Police Department)
Even more shocking, Elliott learned the couple weren’t just parents — they were the owners of the surrogacy agency that had matched them: Mark Surrogacy LLC.
“The first couple of weeks when I found out — I think I cried 23 hours a day,” she said.
Now, Elliott is fighting to bring Baby Hays back to Texas.
Courtney Walker, an attorney with KoonsFuller, a family law firm with offices in Texas and California says in Texas, just giving birth to a child makes you its mother. “These people have this child because Kayla Elliott believed something to be true that wasn’t” Walker said. The challenge is, I don’t know what California will ultimately decide.”
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Walker said cross-state surrogacy cases are rare and legally complex — involving overlapping jurisdictions, contracts, and now, a federal criminal investigation into possible human trafficking.
“There are so many layers to this — it’s literally like an onion,” Walker said. “You’ll have to peel them back to see how deep the deception went and then try to void all those contracts from beginning to end.”
Walker emphasized that those considering surrogacy should seek nationally known agencies, work with experienced legal counsel, and ensure all contracts are independently reviewed.
Elliott said she trusted the couple and believed the baby would be raised in a safe and loving home.
“I grew this baby and handed her over to what I thought was a really loving family,” she said. “To find out there was abuse and neglect — not just with her, but with 21 other children — it’s the worst-case scenario in a surrogacy situation.” “I felt a lot of guilt. The only thing that will make this better,” she added, “is to get her back here with me. That’s the goal.”
As of Thursday, Baby Hays remains in foster care in California. Investigators say custody cases like this one can take months to resolve while the courts work through legal questions and the FBI continues its investigation.
In the meantime, Elliott has launched a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $9,000 to help cover her legal expenses. She hopes to know more by September.
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