What lies ahead for kids at center of California surrogacy investigation?

The arrest of a California couple this week on conspiracy and child abuse charges has raised critical questions regarding the future of the 21 young children at the center of the case, most of them surrogate-born , who were removed from the couple's Arcadia mansion and other properties.

It has been over a year since authorities raided the 10,000-square-foot mansion of Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang in July 2025, and the children were moved into state custody.

Prosecutors on Tuesday presented a picture of the alleged abuse the children suffered at the property, with the district attorney calling the mansion a "house of horrors."

Xuan and Zhang are accused of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children living in their Arcadia home — at least 14 of whom were born to surrogates, the district attorney said — to repeated physical abuse.

The complaint detailed allegations of Zhang and Xuan watching and encouraging the abuse of children, most under 4 years of age, at the hands of various nannies. The parents monitored the alleged abuse through a system of 32 cameras in the home, prosecutors allege.

In one instance, Xuan walked into a room in the mansion called a "learning center" and saw a nanny striking a child, the complaint said. He then allegedly asked the nanny to hit the child harder, delivered open-handed blows to the child's head and lifted the child in the air with one arm, the complaint said.

Xuan and Zhang, who pleaded not guilty, are each being held on a $20 million bond. Xuan's attorney, Mitchell Krems, on Tuesday said his client is innocent and that "he is being targeted for exercising his constitutional right to have a large family."

While the allegations laid out by the district attorney were harrowing, nothing was said about the fate of the children.

When reached by CBS News following the parents' arrest, some of the surrogates involved in the case wondered what would happen to the children, while others said they did not want news about the babies if it was upsetting.

Vanity McGoveran, a surrogate who gave birth to a baby girl in March 2024, felt relieved when she learned of the arrest. "Finally," she said. McGoveran said she was hesitant to learn more information about what happened to the child she handed over to the couple.

McGoveran said she didn't have any knowledge of what happened to the baby. But, according to Nicol Stolar-Peterson, a clinical social worker and child abuse investigator, court proceedings are required within 72 hours after children in California are first removed from a home.

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which oversees local child welfare, likely worked immediately to identify appropriate placement settings for the children. When possible, DCFS places a child with a relative, member of the extended family or with a friend who is able to care for them.