A woman who agreed to be a surrogate mother says she still doesn’t know the man whose baby she’s carrying — and only learned after signing a contract that he’s reportedly fathered hundreds of children through surrogacy arrangements across the country.
The woman, identified by CBS News only as “Judy” to protect her identity, is carrying a child for Xu Bo, a 48-year-old Chinese gaming billionaire who founded the online gaming company Duoyi. Her account is among the first public statements from a surrogate carrying a child for Xu.
“The agency should’ve been very transparent from before getting matched … about who it is that you’re having a baby for and what the family is,” Judy told CBS News.
Judy said she’s tried repeatedly to meet the man for whom she’s carrying a child, without success. “It leaves me wondering: do I even have a right to know?” she said.
How She Got Involved
Judy, a single mother raising a seven-year-old, said she came across an Instagram ad offering $120,000 to become a surrogate. She saw it as a chance to move her family into their own home.
“I wanted to build a better life for me and my daughter,” she said.
She signed with an agency called Patriot Conceptions, which she said described the intended parent as a single father looking to grow his family. When Judy asked how many other surrogates were carrying children for the same man, she says she was told the number was close to two dozen.
“I can’t be exact, but I know it was a large number and I just kind of sat with that information thinking, ‘You know, that’s a lot,'” Judy said. “That’s a lot of kids at one time.”
Judy said she felt bound by the contract she’d already signed and needed the income to move forward, and that friends and relatives encouraged her to continue the pregnancy despite her reservations.
Who Xu Bo Is
Xu has allegedly fathered more than 100 U.S.-born children through surrogacy arrangements. Social media posts verified as his by the Wall Street Journal show him calling himself “China’s first father” and describing a goal of siring at least “50 high-quality sons.” His company has posted that he’s produced more than 100 children through American surrogates.
The story gained traction on Chinese social media after Xu’s ex-girlfriend posted that he had actually fathered more than 300 children, 11 of whom she says she raised herself for years. Xu and his ex are currently locked in a custody battle over two daughters they share, with Xu claiming she owes him millions of dollars in expenses — while notably not disputing her claims about the number of children he’s fathered.
A 2022 video linked to Xu’s account, reviewed by the Journal, shows dozens of young boys inside a mansion rushing toward the camera shouting “Daddy!” in Chinese. The caption reads: “Imagine a bunch of babies rushing towards you—how does that feel?”
A representative for Duoyi, who declined to give a name, told reporters “much of what you described is untrue” but would not answer follow-up questions asking for specifics.
Reports have suggested Xu’s ambitions were partly inspired by Elon Musk, who has faced rumors — which he has denied — of offering sperm to friends and family. Xu has reportedly posted on the Chinese platform Weibo about his children one day marrying Musk’s children.
A California Court Already Weighed In
Many of the children reportedly connected to Xu have lived in a home in Irvine, California, raised by nannies. In the summer of 2023, Xu petitioned a California judge for parental rights over four unborn children and at least eight others he’d already paid surrogates to carry. The judge called a confidential hearing, and Xu appeared by video.
Xu told the judge he hoped to father 20 or more U.S.-born children — specifically boys, which he said were superior — to eventually take over his business. He said he hadn’t met the children living in Irvine because work had kept him busy, but that he planned to bring them to China soon.
The judge rejected the parental rights petition, leaving the unborn children in legal limbo. The case has drawn attention to a surrogacy industry that critics say has enabled wealthy foreign nationals to commission large numbers of American-born children with little oversight or transparency for the women carrying them.
