A 30-year-old Nevada surrogate, Tronderrica James, is suing a Chinese couple, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang, after carrying their child. James claims the couple’s representative, “Jasmine,” aggressively recruited her on Facebook.
This lawsuit is connected to a larger scandal from last year, where 21 children were taken from the couple’s home in Arcadia, California, which has led other surrogates to also demand information.
In an August 2025 email included in court records obtained by The New York Post, the surrogate said the actions of Xuan and Zhang were “foul, reckless, and cruel.”
“Tell me the truth about what happened to the baby I carried—the baby you named Poppy,” she demanded.
James’ experience mirrors others who claim the couple misled them after being contacted on Facebook by a Mark Surrogacy or Future Spring Surrogacy representative.
Now, James and her husband, Travis, are suing the Chinese parents for up to $100 million in punitive damages, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and emotional distress.
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The court filing indicates that James entered into a surrogacy agreement in 2024, although the exact date she gave birth to a baby for Xuan and Zhang remains unknown.
“You gambled with my life. You gambled with the life of a child. You misled me, misrepresented your role, and may have broken multiple state and federal laws in the process …,” James wrote in an August 2025 email to Zhang and Xuan, according to the court filing.
“You exploited my trust, my body and my motherhood.”
James declined to comment, citing pending legal matters.
The surrogate mothers believe they were lied to. They thought they were carrying one child for a Chinese couple in Los Angeles and only spoke to the couple through other people, supposedly because of a language problem. They didn’t know that the two surrogacy agencies were actually run secretly by Xuan and Zhang.
Kayla Elliott, another surrogate for Xuan and Zhang, is seeking custody of the child she gave birth to last March, who is currently in state care.
She suspects the couple is involved in trafficking, stating, “Nobody in their right mind wants 21 children, and especially all at one time.” Her baby was born just before the police raid on Xuan and Zhang’s home, which revealed disturbing details.
The couple was arrested last May for possibly abusing and neglecting a child, and they are out on bail. The state is investigating them for child abuse, but they haven’t been charged with a crime yet.
In the last six months, an additional five babies were born to the couple via surrogates in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Concerns were raised when their two-month-old son was hospitalized with injuries consistent with suspected child abuse, notably “shaking and vomiting.”
The baby’s injuries were later linked to the nanny, Chunmei Li, who allegedly shook the child. Authorities reportedly confirmed this through security footage, which led to Li’s arrest.
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Police found 21 children linked to the Chinese couple, Xuan and Zhang, who are trying to gain custody of 26 children across four states. The couple had one biological child, and Xuan is the biological father of a teenager.
The children were found in and near their Arcadia home. Now, the surrogates are seeking custody after criminal investigations into the couple began last July.
Surveillance footage from the Arcadia mansion reportedly showed nannies physically abusing toddlers, and police believe the couple, Zhang and Xuan, were aware of and permitted the abuse.
Meanwhile, Xuan and Zhang have contested the misconduct allegations in court papers. Lei Bai, the lawyer who drafted their contracts, refused comment via a spokeswoman for her law office who spoke to The Post.
Authorities have involved the FBI to investigate whether the couple misled surrogates nationwide and were potentially selling babies, though the FBI has not officially confirmed its involvement.
Zhang denied that in an interview with the outlet. “We never sell our babies,” she said. “We take care of them very well.”
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