For years, Chinese-language materials promoting California-based Patriot Conceptions presented the surrogacy company as unusually well connected in the United States—describing it as founded by the U.S. military, certified by the federal government, and supported by leading American universities.
Patriot now says those claims were unauthorized.
The company, founded by U.S. Army veteran Haotian Bai, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 28 that older Chinese-language materials containing what it called “hyperbolic and unrealistic claims” were published by junior staff members or foreign brokers without Bai’s knowledge or approval.
Patriot said it had only recently learned of the materials and was attempting to remove them.
But Patriot’s China-facing business extends beyond those disputed promotions. Bai personally participated in Chinese-language online presentations explaining U.S. surrogacy arrangements, and Patriot personnel continued in 2026 to market Chinese-language services covering fertility treatment, surrogate matching, legal arrangements, and post-birth documentation.
The questions come as Congress considers restrictions on foreign nationals’ use of U.S. commercial surrogacy.
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On Sept. 22, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) sought unanimous Senate consent to pass his Stopping Adversarial Foreign Exploitation of Kids in Domestic Surrogacy, or SAFE KIDS, Act. The bill would invalidate certain commercial surrogacy agreements involving citizens of designated adversary countries, including China, and penalize brokers who knowingly or recklessly facilitate prohibited agreements. However, “Senate Democrats blocked the bill,” Scott said, preventing it from advancing by unanimous consent.
“We need to close this loophole,” Scott told The Epoch Times on Sept. 24. “My SAFE KIDS Act puts a stop to this and goes after the brokers facilitating these surrogacies. American citizenship is not for sale.”
A Longstanding China-Facing Business
Chinese-language promotion of Patriot dates back several years.
An archived Aug. 6, 2024, version of Patriot’s official Chinese-language website described the company as the “only reproductive medical institution in the United States recognized and commissioned by the government” and the “only partner” of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It also advertised permanent assisted-reproduction consultation offices at U.S. military installations.
The same page said that, “benefiting from the support of the U.S. government and military,” Patriot’s surrogates could enter military bases and receive “the highest level of security protection,” food, and medical resources.
A ChineseInLA page promoting Patriot separately carried a headline describing it as “the only IVF and third-party assisted-reproduction institution in the United States founded by the U.S. military and certified by the government.”
After The Epoch Times provided Patriot with that page during its reporting, the URL remained accessible but the headline and substantive promotional content were removed.
Other China-facing material directly involved Bai.
On Aug. 20, 2021, Bai served as the Chinese-language interpreter during two online sessions aimed at a Chinese-speaking audience. In one, attorney Corlandos Scott discussed U.S. surrogacy law, including contracts and parentage proceedings. In another, a surrogate identified as Sobeida described her experience as a gestational carrier and answered common questions from surrogates and intended parents.
A separate presentation by physician Meng Fangyin was also uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 24, 2021. Meng spoke in Chinese and discussed assisted reproduction issues including genetic screening and other medical considerations.
A company-published interview posted on Jan. 4, 2024, described a case in which intended parents were in China and unable to travel. The surrogate said she cared for the newborn for about two-and-a-half months while the parents dealt with documentation and travel issues. The video title also described Patriot as government-certified.
The China-facing operation continued into 2026.
In a Sept. 11 company video, Patriot representative Cheryl Wang said she served families in China and Chinese families elsewhere and described a “one-stop” service covering fertility clinics, doctors, embryos, surrogate matching and screening, legal and insurance matters, pregnancy and delivery, and post-birth documentation.
The video was removed after The Epoch Times contacted Patriot about its Chinese-language materials.
An archived April 14, 2026, version of Patriot’s official Chinese-language website advertised “Chinese service, 24-hour online consultation” and directed prospective clients to add a dedicated consultant through WeChat.
A 2024 version of the official Chinese site also told clients who were citizens of countries outside the United States how California parentage orders, birth certificates, and U.S. passports could be obtained after a surrogate birth. It said Patriot offered post-birth concierge assistance and could refer parents to fertility-law attorneys familiar with their home countries.
Military and University Claims
The military-related claims prompted The Epoch Times to ask the Department of War whether Patriot had any formal relationship with the U.S. military or federal government.
Pentagon spokesman Joshua Wick told The Epoch Times on Sept. 24 that the department had reviewed the inquiry.
“We found no associations or contracts with the company in question,” Wick said.
Patriot told The Epoch Times on Sept. 28 that it “has no formal relationship with any aspect of the United States government.”
“Mr. Bai would never claim to have special access to military bases,” the company said. “We are not sure how such statements made their way into these materials without his consent.”
Patriot said it does provide discounts and related assistance to U.S. military veterans.
A Chinese-language Patriot statement published on Dec. 8, 2023, described the company as “the only federally recognized assisted-reproduction institution in the United States” and said it had received the “favor and long-term support of leading U.S. universities.”
Chris Stipes, Rice University’s executive director of news and media relations, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 23 that Bai’s participation in the university’s Veterans Business Battle did not constitute institutional backing.
“Participation in the event, or in any Rice Business student event or competition, does not constitute an endorsement or support by Rice University and does not grant a company permission to market itself as having Rice’s support,” Stipes said.
Florida State University said Bai participated in its Jim Moran Institute’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans–Accelerate in 2023, a four-day residency conducted in partnership with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families.
“FSU did not provide favor or long-term support for Patriot Conceptions,” Amy Farnum-Patronis, senior director of FSU’s Office of University Communications, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 23.
Farnum-Patronis also said FSU did not authorize the use of its name, images, programs, or relationship to market fertility or surrogacy services to prospective customers in China.
Patriot said on Sept. 28 that Bai had completed several programs for veterans, including at FSU and Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, but that participation did not imply an ongoing institutional relationship.
Screening and Twin Claims
The archived 2024 Patriot website said the company had served 1,522 intended-parent parties from 17 countries and helped deliver 1,865 babies, including 569 sets of twins.
It also said Patriot had more than 150 surrogate-recruitment sites across 45 states where the company said surrogacy was legal, and more than 1,000 “exclusive” surrogates in its network.
Patriot told The Epoch Times on Sept. 28 that it does not publish private aggregate demographic or reproductive statistics and said figures appearing in older marketing material were created by junior staff without the knowledge or approval of company ownership.
Kallie Fell, a registered nurse and executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, which opposes commercial surrogacy, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 23 that the twin figure would raise health concerns if accurate.
“If the company’s reported number of twins is accurate, it raises serious questions about both maternal and child health,” Fell said.
The Dec. 8, 2023, Patriot statement separately said the company had developed surrogate-screening standards “under ASRM industry guidance” that were “higher than industry standards” and “more stringent,” with an approval rate of about 20 percent.
Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), told The Epoch Times on Sept. 23 that ASRM’s guidelines and recommendations are publicly available.
“We do not provide any individualized services to, nor collect or monitor data from, commercial surrogacy firms,” Tipton said.
Patriot said on Sept. 28 that it “follows all ASRM guidelines.” It did not explain what criteria the Dec. 8 statement meant by “higher” or “more stringent” than industry standards.
ASRM’s 2022 guidance strongly recommends single-embryo transfer in all gestational-carrier cycles because of the health risks associated with multiple gestations.
Surrogacy Controversy
The scale question raises another issue: whether any agency, clinic, or court can see how many simultaneous surrogacy arrangements one intended parent may be pursuing through different providers.
In an official social media post, Xu’s company, Duoyi Network, once claimed that Xu had more than 100 children through U.S. surrogacy.
The company later said in a Dec. 17, 2025, statement that Xu only had 12 children born through U.S. surrogacy.
Patriot told The Epoch Times on Sept. 28 that it “successfully facilitated one surrogacy” for Xu and “had no knowledge of Mr. Xu’s additional surrogacy plans, or his intentions.”
The Judicial Council of California told The Epoch Times on Sept. 24 that the state court system does not compile aggregate data on gestational surrogacy or assisted reproduction parentage proceedings.
Asked whether California has a statewide mechanism that could identify unusually large numbers of concurrent surrogate pregnancies or parentage proceedings involving one intended parent, the council responded: “None known.”
Whether a local court could identify overlapping proceedings in other counties would depend on the individual court, the council said.
The California Department of Public Health separately told The Epoch Times on Sept. 29 that birth records do not identify gestational-surrogacy cases and do not collect information on intended parents, including whether they live abroad.
Patriot said on Sept. 28 that it likewise does not seek information about clients’ reproductive arrangements elsewhere.
“There is no way any surrogacy agency in the United States could know of intended parents’ overall reproductive plans without the direct disclosure from that family,” the company said.
Fell said the fragmented system leaves a broader visibility problem.
“Each individual arrangement may appear acceptable when viewed in isolation, while nobody is responsible for seeing the entire picture,” she said.
Congress Considers Restrictions
Scott’s SAFE KIDS Act is not the only federal proposal addressing foreign national surrogacy.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) introduced the Preventing International Surrogacy Exploitation Act, H.R. 9132, in June. The bill would prohibit foreign nationals from obtaining children through U.S.-based surrogacy agencies.
Patriot told The Epoch Times on Sept. 28 that it had no comment on Scott’s proposal.
The company said it continues to provide surrogacy services to American and foreign families and follows applicable federal and state laws.
