In a quiet family court in Los Angeles, court clerks began noticing something unusual. As they reviewed routine parentage petitions—typically filed in cases involving legal surrogacy—the same name kept appearing. Again. And again. Far more often than normal.

The petitioner was a Chinese technology billionaire. At first glance, the filings seemed ordinary: requests to legally recognize fatherhood for children born via surrogacy in the United States. But a deeper review revealed a staggering pattern. The man was seeking parental recognition for at least four unborn children at once—and records suggested he already had, or was in the process of having, at least eight more. All were conceived through U.S.-based surrogacy arrangements.

By the summer of 2023, the situation raised enough concern that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Amy Pellman called the man—Xu Bo—into a closed hearing. Xu, the founder of a major Chinese online gaming company, did not appear in person. Instead, he joined remotely via video link, assisted by an interpreter.

What he told the court stunned everyone present.

Xu openly stated that his goal was to have around 20 children born in the United States, all through surrogacy—and all male. In his view, sons were superior to daughters and better suited to inherit and expand his business empire.

Some of Xu’s children were already living in Irvine, California, cared for by hired nannies while legal paperwork was being processed. Xu admitted he had never met them. He said he was simply too busy.

To Judge Pellman, this was deeply troubling. Surrogacy, she noted, is typically framed as a compassionate solution for families struggling to have children—not as a mass-production system for heirs. Xu’s model, she concluded, did not resemble parenthood in any meaningful sense.

In a rare move, the judge denied Xu’s parentage petition—an application that is usually approved swiftly in legal surrogacy cases. The decision left several children, conceived at great expense, in legal limbo.

Xu Bo is well-known on Chinese social media but lives a remarkably private life. For nearly a decade, he has avoided public appearances and rarely speaks to the press. His company, Duoyi Network, declined to comment on the court proceedings or its founder’s surrogacy activities.

However, accounts believed to be linked to Xu previously made provocative statements online, including claims that “having more children solves all problems,” and even fantasies about his children marrying the children of Elon Musk. In an email to The Wall Street Journal, company representatives denied the accuracy of much of the reporting but refused to specify what was incorrect.

Judge Pellman’s decision—made in a case never publicly announced—has since been viewed by legal experts as a warning sign of a growing but largely hidden trend in the U.S. surrogacy industry.

A Growing Underground Industry

Surrogacy is strictly banned in China. Yet wealthy Chinese elites are increasingly traveling abroad—primarily to the United States—to have children through legally permissible surrogacy arrangements. Because these processes are typically private and rarely surface in public court records, oversight is minimal.

Lawyers and brokers familiar with the industry describe a surge in demand from ultra-wealthy Chinese clients willing to spend millions of dollars to have dozens—or even hundreds—of children born overseas.

Some say they are inspired by Western tech billionaires with large families. Elon Musk, who has repeatedly warned of global population decline and has fathered many children himself, has reportedly become a role model. According to Nathan Zhang, founder of IVF USA, some Chinese clients explicitly cite Musk while expressing their ambition to build what they call an “unstoppable family dynasty.”

Zhang says he once refused a client who wanted more than 200 children at the same time via surrogacy. When asked how he planned to raise them, the man had no answer.

Another California-based surrogacy broker claimed he helped fulfill an order for 100 children for a single Chinese parent over several years.

Surrogacy as a Profitable Investment Market

Industry insiders say most surrogacy clients are busy executives, older couples, or same-sex partners with the financial means to navigate legal and social risks. But a new category of client is emerging: ultra-rich individuals pursuing legacy-building on a massive scale.

This demand has fueled a booming ecosystem. Today, parents don’t even need to visit the U.S. to have a child born there. A global network of surrogacy agencies, IVF clinics, law firms, maternity services, and newborn care providers handle everything. Clients simply ship genetic material abroad and receive a baby—at costs reaching $200,000 per child.

Most U.S. states do not prohibit foreign nationals from using surrogacy services. China, meanwhile, does not explicitly ban citizens from pursuing surrogacy overseas, though officials have repeatedly condemned the practice as unethical and exploitative.

Research from Emory University shows that international surrogacy in the U.S. quadrupled between 2014 and 2019. In 2019 alone, U.S. IVF clinics reported more than 3,200 surrogacy cycles for foreign parents—nearly 40% of all cases. While the pandemic slowed the trend, investors believe long-term growth will continue.

Capital has followed demand. A China-based fertility group acquired IVF clinics in Southern California, home to a large Chinese diaspora. U.S. investors have also poured money into reproductive clinics across Southeast Asia and North America to capture cross-border demand.

Legal and National Security Concerns

The surge raises serious legal and security questions for the United States. Under the 14th Amendment, anyone born on U.S. soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen. Foreign exploitation of this principle has long been politically contentious.

The U.S. government has already tightened visa rules to combat “birth tourism” and is considering further restrictions on birthright citizenship. Some lawmakers have proposed banning citizens of certain countries—including China—from accessing U.S. surrogacy services, citing federal investigations into human trafficking and abuse of legal systems.

Veterans of the fertility industry say motivations are shifting. What once began as a way to bypass population limits has evolved into something more ambitious—and unsettling.

For a new class of global elites, surrogacy is no longer about having a family. It’s about engineering a dynasty.

And the world may only be beginning to see the consequences.