Chinese billionaire and Duoyi Network founder Xu Bo has reportedly fathered more than 100 children through surrogacy in the United States, drawing renewed attention to the country’s surrogacy industry, birthright citizenship and the growing use of American reproductive services by wealthy foreign nationals.
The extraordinary case came under renewed scrutiny after a California woman serving as a surrogate reportedly discovered that the intended father of the baby she was carrying was Xu.
The woman, identified as Judy in reports, said she had been told she was carrying a child for a single father who wanted to build a large family. She reportedly agreed to the arrangement for $120,000 but said she repeatedly asked to meet the intended father and was never given the opportunity.
She later discovered documents identifying Xu as the intended father, according to reports.
Xu Bo’s reported number of children varies
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One of the most striking aspects of the story is the uncertainty surrounding the number of children Xu has fathered through surrogacy.
The Wall Street Journal reported in December 2025 that Xu had more than 100 children born through U.S. surrogates. His company, Duoyi Network, acknowledged the figure at the time, saying he had “a little over 100” children through surrogacy.
The figure has since been disputed.
Xu’s former partner, Tang Jing, has reportedly claimed that he has as many as 300 children. However, Xu and his company have rejected the larger figure.
More recently, Xu has reportedly said he has custody of 12 children born through surrogacy in the United States.
Because the various figures come from different sources and statements, the exact number of Xu’s children remains unclear.
A billionaire building a huge family
Xu Bo is the founder of Chinese gaming company Duoyi Network and has reportedly used U.S. surrogacy services to have children despite living in China.
The Wall Street Journal investigation found that Xu had appeared remotely in a confidential California family court hearing in 2023 concerning parental rights to several unborn children.
According to people familiar with the hearing, Xu told the court that he hoped to have around 20 U.S.-born children through surrogacy. The investigation later uncovered evidence that he had already fathered or was in the process of fathering more children than that.
The case illustrates how wealthy foreign clients can use the U.S. reproductive industry to build families on a scale that would be difficult or impossible under the laws of their home countries.
Why U.S. surrogacy is attracting wealthy foreigners
Commercial surrogacy is permitted in California and several other U.S. states, although rules vary considerably from state to state.
The United States has also become an important destination for international clients seeking assisted reproductive services.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. surrogacy industry has attracted wealthy Chinese clients partly because commercial surrogacy is not legally available in China.
The investigation also raised concerns about the relatively limited federal regulation of the industry and the role played by agencies, lawyers, fertility clinics and other businesses involved in international surrogacy arrangements.
Birthright citizenship adds another layer
The case has also generated debate over American citizenship.
Under the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, people born in the United States and subject to U.S. jurisdiction are generally citizens at birth. The Constitution’s Citizenship Clause states that people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the country and the state where they reside.
The Wall Street Journal reported that this has made U.S. surrogacy particularly attractive to some wealthy foreign parents because children born through American surrogates can generally obtain U.S. citizenship.
However, birthright citizenship itself is the subject of ongoing legal and political debate in the United States, making cases involving foreign parents and U.S.-born children particularly sensitive.
Concerns over regulation and informed consent
The case involving Judy has also raised questions about transparency within the surrogacy industry.
The surrogate reportedly said she was not initially aware of the intended father’s identity or the extraordinary number of children he had reportedly commissioned through surrogacy.
Her account has prompted questions about whether surrogates should receive more information about intended parents before entering agreements.
The wider debate goes beyond Xu Bo and concerns how agencies and fertility providers vet intended parents, what information should be disclosed to surrogates, and whether there should be limits on the number of children one person can commission through reproductive services.
What is known about Xu Bo’s children?
While reports have placed the number of Xu’s children at more than 100, the exact figure remains uncertain.
His company has previously acknowledged that he had more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy, while other claims have placed the number considerably higher. Xu has disputed some of those reports.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that some children connected to Xu’s surrogacy arrangements were being cared for by nannies in California while paperwork was being processed for their eventual travel.
The extraordinary scale of the reported family has therefore become part of a broader conversation about wealth, reproductive technology and the limits of existing surrogacy laws.
For now, the most consistently reported figure is that Xu Bo has fathered more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy, although the exact number remains disputed.
