How Wealthy Chinese Couples Are Using US Surrogacy Agencies To Have American Babies

A growing surrogacy industry in California is attracting wealthy Chinese couples who want their children to be born in America and potentially obtain US citizenship. According to the New York Post, one such company, Patriot Conceptions, operates between the US and China and has attracted significant attention over its work with Chinese parents.

The company, founded by US Army veteran Haotian Bai, advertises surrogacy services to international clients. Its promotional material is available in both Chinese and English, while prospective clients are directed to contact the company through WeChat, a widely used Chinese messaging platform.

According to the company's reported pricing, intended parents can pay between $120,000 (Rs 1.1 crore) and $200,000 (Rs 1.9 crore) for a surrogacy arrangement. Women who act as surrogates can receive tens of thousands of dollars, with reports putting payments at between $60,000 and $120,000, depending on the arrangement.

The process generally involves parents creating embryos that are later transferred to an American surrogate. Some Chinese couples reportedly travel to the US for fertility procedures, while embryos can also be transported from China for implantation in the US.

For some wealthy Chinese families, having a child born in the US is considered desirable because of the potential benefits associated with American citizenship. The children can subsequently be raised in China by their parents.

The issue gained wider attention after a surrogate, identified as Judy, discovered that she was carrying a child linked to Chinese billionaire Xu Bo. She said she had responded to an Instagram advertisement from Patriot Conceptions and was unaware of the identity of the biological father until CBS News informed her.

Patriot Conceptions said it had arranged the surrogacy on behalf of Xu Bo and that the surrogate's concerns should be taken seriously.

The case has also raised questions about how much information surrogates receive about intended parents. Judy's experience has prompted scrutiny of arrangements in which the surrogate may not know the identity or background of the people whose child she is carrying.

Patriot Conceptions' founder previously claimed that his company had helped thousands of parents through surrogacy, with around 40% of its clients coming from outside the US. The company's promotional material, however, appears to focus heavily on Chinese customers.

When contacted by The Post, Bai said, "We do not disclose client demographic breakdowns. We collect intended parents' nationality at intake and disclose it to the surrogate during matching. A parent's foreign nationality … does not by itself establish that obtaining citizenship is the purpose of an arrangement."

The business is not Bai's first venture involving international clients. He previously operated another California-based surrogacy company called Pacific Surrogacy, which also catered to Chinese parents.

Bai, who moved from China to the US around 2012 to study environmental engineering at Iowa State University, later joined the US Army and gained American citizenship. Before entering the fertility business, he ran a controversial internship program in Hawaii that placed Chinese students in legislative offices.