Alexa Fasold was the agent of a couple who has had infertility issues and was set to give birth to a boy this fall after carrying the embryos transferred from January. She then learned that the institution she worked with was under investigation.
The couple behind Arcadia, California, is being accused by deputies of carrying out a potential fraud in which multiple women across the country were unconsciously carrying embryos for the same couple at the same time. Fasold was the first to realize something was wrong in May when government agency Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC suddenly stopped answering legal questions.
Couple Sylvia Chang, 38, and her husband, Gujun Xuan, 65, are resident of Arcadia’s family and owner of Mark Salogesy were arrested that month on suspicion of extermination and neglect of a felony child, police said. Police said they had not been charged and were released on bonds for investigation.
Police say they found 21 children. This was primarily born as an agent and led to a married couple. Fifteen children were found at Arcadia homes, ages ranging from two months to 13 years old. According to public records, the institution that dissolved in June was registered at the same address.
Six more children, tied up by the couple, were found in the care of family and friends. All children were recovered by police following a call to a local hospital and reported that the two-month-old baby had arrived with head injuries. The children are currently under protective custody.
Fasold, 26, said she had been destroyed and she had no idea what will happen to the baby she is carrying. She may try to raise her for a period of time, she said, and has worked with the attorneys she held early in the surrogacy process.
“We are heartbroken for the baby and his future,” said Fasold, a Pennsylvania-based motor coach bus driver. “We were supposed to be either completing the family or helping them get started, and that turned into this horror film.”
Alexa Fasold is pregnant and due in a few months, but the company she is an agent is under investigation and has been accused of fraud. (Courtesy Alexa Fasold)
Fasold, who is married to a child, is one of several agents who have recently moved forward as they say they have worked with the agency. Fasold said the contract with Mark Surrogacy lists confidential clauses and therefore cannot share the identity of the parents of the child she is carrying.
Kayla Elliot, 27-year-old representative for Zhang and Xuan, who gave the baby in March, told NBC News that Mark Sirrogacy had one teenager in the couple and gave two seconds after 10 rounds of failed fertility treatment. Elliott said he learned that the baby she had been born is among those currently foster parents.
Despite details about the agency surfaced, Fasold said he recently received an email from them over a week ago. The email, seen by NBC News, asked her details about the hospital where she plans to deliver the baby. Fasold has not responded to emails.
“We understand that there is a research, but our main focus is who is taking the baby now. Where is the baby?” Fasold said. “We’re still honest, but it’s a race against time to understand what it looks like.”
Attempts to reach Zhang and Xuan failed. It was not immediately clear whether Zhang and Xuan had held lawyers who could speak on their behalf.
Pennsylvania’s Human Services Bureau did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office didn’t respond immediately.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services said in a statement that it could not share details about “the lives of children and families that attract our attention.”
Video evidence recovered from Arcadia Home shows that some of the younger children were “physical and emotional abused.” Authorities say they know about the abuse and believe “let it happen.”
During Kollin Cieadlo, police are expected to re-fils the case after reviewing the evidence with the district attorney in the next two to three weeks. An arrest warrant has been issued in connection with the 56-year-old nanny’s lawsuit, and authorities say they were seen on cameras shaking and hitting the two-month-old baby violently. The baby was unconscious and hospitalized, police said, and was the subject of a call that caused an investigation in May.
Fasold said she has been in contact with the FBI and Child Protective Services over the past few weeks. Her contract with Mark Surrogacy states that she will not fight for her parent’s rights. However, Fasold said the new situation means that the baby could become a foster parent, and she is considering the requirements for becoming a foster parent.
Fasold’s surrogacy process began more than a year ago. In the end, she told her that she wasn’t working with an acquaintance’s surrogacy agency, but that she was medically disqualified from carrying it. Fasold suspects that her pregnancy with her youngest child with gallbladder surgery ultimately ruled out her as an agent with that particular agency, but she still wanted to find another way to get involved in the process.
That’s when Fasold began posting on Facebook for advice and surrogacy groups, she said. Fasold and her husband initially had their minds set up with another agency, but Mark Salogosy found them through social media posts and reached out to them, she said.
“They asked us what we were looking for. They ask if they would allow us to compete with the agents we found, if they could compete with compensation, or if there was something we would ask for in the company,” recalls Fasord.
Documents obtained by NBC4 show the show since January 2022, with police responding to at least six 911 calls at the Arcadia home behind the surrogacy probe. Alex Rozier is reporting an NBC4 News report on Friday, July 25th, 2025 at 6pm.
Fasold said in retrospect that the company agreed to all the terms and conditions she and her husband wanted. Among other things, they had to remain anonymous in the process, limited contact with the baby’s intended parents, and there was no direct communication with them. They also did not want their parents to have complete control over their pregnancy.
“Everything we were looking for in our parents is basically what we got and whatever we said,” Fasold said. “Looking back now, it should have been a red flag, because it’s very rare. Usually there’s a compromise.”
After months of discussion, Fasold and her husband signed a contract with Mark Surrogacy in May 2024. The surrogacy process typically costs couples between $125,000 and $175,000. Replacement fees, ranging between $30,000 and $60,000, including carrying baby runs and delivery. Fasold did not disclose her compensation.
“We jumped the gun a little,” she said. “We just chose them because we were flexible, had a pretty good communication and never left a question that they weren’t answered for us.”
“When this baby is born and after a period of healing… my husband and I are planning on another surrogacy journey again.”
Alexa Fasord
Fasold said most of the communication with the company took place between Facebook Messenger and email, with weekly check-in prior to the initial embryo transfer. The only face-to-face interaction she had with the company was after embryo transfer in September 2024, she said. She expected the intended parents to appear in the procedure, but Fasold said she was told she was dealing with health issues that prevented the couple from attending them. But two representatives from Mark Surrogacy greeted them instead, she said.
“They brought us a gift basket on our first transfer,” Fasord said. “They were excited. They were happy.”
That first embryo migration did not pan out, Fasold said, and she suffered from a miscarriage. However, the second transfer that occurred in January was successful. Red Flags began to appear around mid-May. They were generally much more responsive than emails, but they weren’t responding to lawyers’ communications, Fasold said.
“When she tried to call the agency directly, it actually led her to a ‘future spring surrogacy’,” Fasold said.
It was around that time that lawyers learned about investigations related to Mark’s surrogacy. A few weeks later, the agency’s business license ended.
Fasold said the news incorporates a lot. However, she added that she believes that despite all that happened, surrogacy is “beautiful” and that her experience is not representative of the norm.
“There are good institutions, there are good people there,” Fasord said. “When this baby is born and after a period of healing… my husband and I are planning on another surrogacy journey again.”
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