"In the delicate jargon of the fertility industry, a woman who carries a child for someone else is said to be going on a "journey." Kayla Elliott began hers in February, 2024, not long after she posted her information in a Facebook group dedicated to surrogacy. Elliott, who was twenty-six and lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, already had four children, but she was intrigued by the prospect of bearing another. She'd loved the natural rush of pregnancy."
"When Elliott asked for more details, she was sent a dating-style profile. It featured a photo of a paunchy sixty-four-year-old, Guojun Xuan, with his arm draped around a woman identified as his wife, Silvia, who was thirty-six and had short-cropped black hair. They lived in Arcadia, an affluent city in L.A. County, and shared a daughter who, they said, longed for a sibling."
"To qualify for the job, Elliott underwent a series of medical screenings, including a psychological evaluation, in which she described herself as "outspoken, compassionate, bubbly, loving, giving, and flamboyant." After losing about fifteen pounds to meet the weight requirement, she began the standard protocols: birth control to stabilize her menstrual cycle, followed by a round of hormonal injections to thicken her uterine lining."
A wealthy Arcadia couple engaged surrogacy agencies to place multiple pregnancies with surrogates, acquiring additional children through coordinated arrangements. Surrogates underwent medical screenings, psychological evaluations, weight-loss requirements, hormonal injections, and birth-control protocols to prepare for embryo implantation. The intended parents presented a family-oriented profile and offered close interaction, while their pattern of obtaining many children provoked questions about motives beyond traditional family-building. The arrangements exposed surrogates to physical and emotional demands and revealed stark power and economic imbalances between affluent intended parents and carriers. The case highlights legal, ethical, and international complexities in modern fertility practices.
Read at The New Yorker
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