Blame it on American individualism or a political aversion to regulation, but the United States has become a striking outlier in its failure to regulate the assisted reproductive technology industry. As a result, individuals from other countries have begun engaging in quasi–birth tourism through American surrogacy contracts, and not in small numbers. Chinese billionaire Xu Bo, for example, has reportedly fathered more than 100 American children through surrogacy and has been involved in legal battles over custody, describing them as part of his “business legacy". Beyond clear international abuses of U.S. surrogacy laws, there are also numerous domestic practices that warrant greater oversight and protection. The central question is why? What do they want these children for? Who, if anyone, is regulating these contracts? And why have lawmakers declined to address this rapidly growing industry?

Charles Hilu is a reporter for The Dispatch based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the company in 2024, he was the Collegiate Network Fellow at the Washington Free Beacon and interned at both National Review and the Washington Examiner. He attended the University of Michigan, earning a Bachelor’s in Political Science, where he was editor in chief of The Michigan Review and chairman of Young Americans for Freedom.

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