{
  "id": 12612049,
  "title": "California pair charged with abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/california-pair-charged-with-abusing-at-least-14-surrogate-born-12612049",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-07T11:04:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
    "slug": "myjoyonline-ghana",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/california-pair-charged-with-abusing-at-least-14-surrogate-born-children/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A California couple, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang, have been charged with abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children, some as young as two months old, at their Arcadia mansion. The Los Angeles District Attorney, Nathan J Hochman, described the alleged abuse as unprecedented. The pair, who ran a surrogacy company, are accused of subjecting up to 15 of the 16 children living with them to repeated physical abuse after 21 children were removed from their custody last year. The investigation began in May 2025 when Zhang brought a two-month-old boy to the hospital with a head injury, leading to the discovery of the alleged abuse. The couple's lawyer, Mitchell Krems, has described the allegations as a \"mischaracterisation\", stating that they are based on the evidence reviewed.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BBC World",
        "title": "California pair charged with abusing at least 14 surrogate-born children",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/california-pair-charged-with-abusing-at-least-14-surrogate-born",
        "published": "2026-10-07T09:38:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}