A California surrogate says she was kept in the dark about the identity of the man whose baby she is carrying until she learned he is a reclusive Chinese billionaire who has allegedly fathered hundreds of children through U.S. Surrogacy agencies.
Judy, a single mother raising a seven-year-old daughter, said she discovered she was matched with Xu Bo, 48, the founder of online gaming company Duoyi, only after pressing her agency for details about how many other women were carrying his children. The station agreed to identify her by a pseudonym to protect her identity.
Her path into surrogacy began with an Instagram advertisement offering $120,000. Judy, who hoped to earn enough to buy a home for herself and her daughter, said she saw it as a path to stability. “I wanted to build a better life for me and my daughter,” she said.
She signed with Patriot Conceptions, where she said staff described the intended parent as a single father looking to grow his family. When she later asked how many other surrogates were carrying children for the same man, she was told the number approached 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,'” she said. “That’s a lot of kids at one time.”
Despite her unease, Judy said she felt bound to continue by her contract and her financial need. Friends and relatives also urged her to proceed with the pregnancy. She has repeatedly tried to meet Xu in person, she said, but no meeting has taken place. “It leaves me wondering: do I even have a right to know?” she said. “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.”
Xu has become a figure of fascination and controversy on both sides of the Pacific. His company has posted on social media that he has produced more than 100 children through U.S. Surrogacy, according to the Wall Street Journal, which verified posts from an account linked to him. He calls himself “China’s first father” and has declared his goal of siring at least “50 high-quality sons,” the outlet reported.
In a 2022 video posted by an account tied to Xu, footage shows dozens of young boys seated in a mansion who leap up and rush toward the camera yelling “Daddy!” in Chinese, according to the Journal. “Imagine a bunch of babies rushing towards you—how does that feel?” the caption reads. “Take a look. Besides your loved one, what’s cuter than children?”
Xu’s family-building ambitions have reportedly been shaped by his admiration for Elon Musk. On Weibo, he has posted fantasies of his offspring one day marrying Musk’s children to create what he envisions as a sprawling dynasty, the Journal reported. Musk has denied claims that he offers friends and family sperm in an effort to expand his bloodline.
The billionaire’s efforts to consolidate control over his American-born children have already collided with the U.S. Legal system. In summer 2023, a California judge handled petitions from Xu seeking parental rights for four unborn children plus at least eight others born through surrogates. Xu appeared over video for a confidential hearing the judge immediately called.
During that proceeding, Xu told the judge he hoped to sire 20 or more U.S.-born children—boys specifically, because he considers them superior—to eventually take over his business, according to the Journal. He said he had not yet met many of the children because work had kept him busy, but planned to bring them to China. The judge rejected his petition, leaving the unborn children in legal limbo and spotlighting an industry of surrogacy firms facilitating American births for wealthy Chinese clients.
Many of Xu’s children have reportedly been raised by nannies in a home in Irvine, California.
The story intensified on Chinese social media after Xu’s ex-girlfriend posted that he had fathered more than 300 children, 11 of whom she said she raised for years. The former couple is now locked in a custody battle over two daughters, with Xu claiming she owes him millions in expenses he paid—while not disputing her claims about the scale of his progeny.
A representative for Duoyi told the Journal that “much of what you described is untrue,” but declined to provide specifics or give their name.
Judy’s account marks one of the first public statements from a surrogate carrying a child for Xu, offering a rare window into the human experience within a network that has reportedly produced scores of American births.