Surrogacy, a.k.a. the practice of buying a woman’s egg and renting her womb to carry a preborn baby to term, is oftentimes utilized today by homosexual men who want to raise a child. Surrogacy is different from in vitro fertilization. While IVF has its own moral dilemmas, including eugenics, it’s at least intended to help infertile couples get pregnant.

Surrogacy is something else entirely. It is the ultimate dehumanization of an infant, and the following story is where that sort of dehumanization leads.

A couple in Arcadia, California, were recently arrested after cops were sent to their home to investigate suspected child abuse (their two-month-old had suffered a traumatic brain injury). Police discovered 21(!) children residing in the mansion, their ages ranging from two months to 13. Of those 21 children, 17 are under three years old. Most of them were born via surrogacy and then released into the custody of the couple, Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38.

The couple was initially arrested for child endangerment but was later released. It is not clear whether additional charges are forthcoming. All of the children are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services. Arcadia Police Lt. Kollin Cieadlo told reporters, “The discipline, both verbal and physical, was severe to the point where it supported the beliefs that child abuse was occurring inside the home.”

The nanny, Chunmei Li, 56, is still a wanted woman. The police believe that she was the main purveyor of the abuse toward the children. They also suspect her of causing the traumatic brain injury suffered by the two-month-old.

The couple were owners of a surrogacy business and were allegedly abusing their position to have numerous children, the purpose of which has not been made public. However, The Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan confirmed that the FBI is looking into this case as a possible Chinese-linked baby-selling operation. If that turns out to be the case, how horrible for these children. Was this a repopulation scheme, or merely selling children for profit?

Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang lied to the surrogate mothers, claiming they only had one child. One surrogate mother, Kayla Elliot, has taken legal action in the hopes of reclaiming the child she bore after discovering that she was placed in foster care.

This story points to a larger issue at play with surrogacy. It deprives the infant of his or her mother. The surrogate, or biological mother, is all that little one has known while growing in her womb. The baby knows that woman’s heartbeat, and she is, for all intents and purposes, the true mother in that baby’s world. So what happens to these innocent little ones when they are born? Many are taken away from their biological mothers and placed in the arms of those adopting them. It’s traumatic for the babies and also for the surrogates.

Surrogacy is also inherently dehumanizing. At its most sterile, a person can buy an egg, rent a womb, and then claim the child nine months later. That person is essentially buying a baby.

Children are neither a commodity nor a cute fashion accessory, and they should be treated with the dignity that all lives deserve. Surrogacy is fraught with moral dilemmas. The practice itself should have far more guardrails than it does.

In the case of these 21 children, they were brought into a horrible situation and mistreated, and they are now at the mercy of the foster care system. I pray that these precious lives will be adopted and have a chance to grow up in a loving family.