This case, involving video game magnate Xu Bo, who has publicly acknowledged fathering over one hundred U.S.-born children, exposes a burgeoning and largely unregulated phenomenon. Wealthy foreign nationals, primarily from China, are leveraging America's surrogacy laws and the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship to orchestrate the births of dozens—sometimes hundreds—of American children, prompting profound questions about national security, child welfare, and the integrity of U.S. citizenship.

The scale of "dynasty building"

Driven by desires to forge what industry insiders term an "unstoppable family dynasty," a subset of ultra-wealthy Chinese clients are pursuing surrogacy on an industrial scale. While precise numbers are elusive due to private court proceedings, reports from surrogacy professionals describe requests ranging from dozens to hundreds of children per individual. Nathan Zhang, founder of IVF USA, which caters to Chinese clients, described a new clientele inspired by figures like Elon Musk, seeking to build vast family enterprises. One client, he said, sought over 200 children at once but could not explain how they would be raised. Agencies, which can earn $40,000 to $50,000 per surrogacy arrangement, often welcome such large orders, with limited oversight to prevent parents from spreading requests across multiple firms.

National security and child welfare intersect

The issue transcends unusual family planning and enters the realm of national security and abuse. A stark example is the case of Guojun Xuan, a former senior official in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People's Congress—a body linked to policies the U.S. has determined constitute genocide. In May 2025, Xuan and his wife were arrested in Arcadia, California, for child endangerment after their infant was hospitalized with a head injury. Authorities removed 21 children from their custody, nearly all born via surrogates in recent years. The FBI is now involved in the investigation. This case directly ties a foreign national, associated with adversarial government policies, to the alleged abuse of a small army of surrogate-born American citizens, highlighting the potential for exploitation within the system.

A system ripe for exploitation

The United States presents a perfect environment for this practice due to a combination of permissive laws, lucrative financial incentives, and regulatory gaps. Domestic surrogacy is illegal in China, making the U.S. a destination for "regulatory arbitrage." A sophisticated support industry of agencies, lawyers, and clinics has emerged to facilitate the process, sometimes enabling children to be procured without the parents ever setting foot in the country. The primary attraction is the 14th Amendment, which confers automatic citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. This constitutional right, long a political flashpoint, is now being accessed through a novel and costly loophole, allowing foreign elites to secure U.S. passports for their offspring en masse.