How Did a US Woman Become Surrogate for Chinese Billionaire Xu Bo? What We Know About the Surrogacy Network

A US woman's experience as a surrogate has put fresh attention on the increasingly complex network connecting wealthy international parents, fertility clinics, surrogacy agencies and legal firms in the United States.

The woman, identified as “Judy” by CBS News to protect her privacy, said she agreed to carry a baby after coming across an Instagram advertisement promising $120,000 in compensation. A single mother with a 7-year-old daughter, she viewed the opportunity as a way to improve their financial circumstances.

What she did not initially know, according to her account, was the identity and scale of the intended father's family plans.

She later learned that the pregnancy was connected to Xu Bo, a Chinese billionaire and founder of gaming company Duoyi Network. The revelation came as reports about Xu's extensive use of US surrogacy arrangements were already attracting international attention.

Who is Xu Bo?

Xu Bo is the founder and chairman of Guangzhou Duoyi Network, a major Chinese gaming company. His wealth has been estimated at around $1.1 billion by media reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that Xu had fathered, or was in the process of fathering, a very large number of children through surrogates in the US. The exact number remains disputed.

Xu has reportedly acknowledged having more than 100 children through surrogacy, while his former partner Tang Jing has made a substantially higher claim, alleging that the number could reach 300. Those figures have not been independently established in full.

Xu's company has also disputed some of the numbers circulating publicly.

What happened to the US surrogate?

According to CBS News' reporting, Judy responded to a social-media advertisement offering $120,000 for a surrogacy arrangement.

She said her motivation was primarily financial: she wanted to provide a better future for herself and her daughter.

However, she later discovered that the intended father had been working with multiple surrogates simultaneously. That revelation left her questioning how much information prospective surrogates should receive before agreeing to carry a pregnancy.

The case has raised a particularly important question: Should a surrogate be told how many other pregnancies an intended parent is pursuing at the same time?

How does the US surrogacy network work?

The arrangements described in reporting around Xu's case involve several layers.

Wealthy intended parents can work with:

• Surrogacy agencies that recruit and match carriers

• Fertility clinics providing IVF and embryo-transfer services

• Attorneys handling parental-rights proceedings

• Egg donors and genetic-testing providers

• Nanny and childcare services after birth

The Wall Street Journal reported that a sophisticated US-based ecosystem has developed around international clients seeking children through surrogacy. In some cases, intended parents can arrange much of the process while living outside the United States.

That structure can make the process highly organized for intended parents, but it also raises questions about whether surrogates receive complete information about the people for whom they are carrying children.

Why are Chinese billionaires turning to US surrogates?

Surrogacy is prohibited in mainland China, making the US one of the destinations for wealthy Chinese intended parents seeking arrangements overseas.

The United States also has a large commercial surrogacy industry, particularly in states such as California, where the legal framework is comparatively favorable to intended parents.

Another issue is US citizenship. Children born in the United States have historically been granted birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, although the legal and political debate around birthright citizenship remains active.

For wealthy international parents, this combination of reproductive services, legal infrastructure and US birth can make American surrogacy particularly attractive.

Xu Bo's reported plans

Xu's case attracted attention after a 2023 Los Angeles family-court proceeding involving several unborn children.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the court discovered that Xu was seeking parental rights involving at least four unborn children and that he had already fathered or was in the process of fathering several others through surrogates.

During a hearing, Xu reportedly said he wanted around 20 US-born children who could eventually help take over his business. He also expressed a preference for boys, according to people familiar with the hearing.

Later reports have described ambitions for an even larger family.

Why the case is raising questions

Judy's story is significant not necessarily because surrogacy itself is unusual, but because it highlights the issue of informed consent.

A woman agreeing to become a surrogate may reasonably want to know who the intended parent is, whether other surrogates are involved and what circumstances could affect the pregnancy or the child's future.

The case also highlights the different levels of information available to participants in a rapidly expanding commercial industry.

The broader US surrogacy market remains largely governed by state-level laws rather than one comprehensive federal regulatory framework. That means rules concerning contracts, parental rights and protections for surrogates can vary considerably.

What remains unclear

There is currently no evidence that Judy was deliberately deceived about the identity of the intended father when she signed her agreement. Her account instead raises questions about how much information was disclosed to her and when she received it.

Likewise, reports that Xu has fathered more than 100 children should be treated as reported figures rather than a precisely verified official count. His former partner's claim of 300 children is considerably higher and remains disputed.

The controversy has therefore moved beyond Xu personally to a wider question about the US fertility industry: how much should intended parents, agencies and clinics be required to disclose to women before they agree to become surrogates?

Judy's experience has brought that question into sharper focus.