A surrogate carrying a child for Chinese billionaire Xu Bo — a man reported to have over 100 children — said she trusted her agency to "protect surrogates." Now, the business practices of California-based Patriot Conceptions and its CEO are facing fresh scrutiny. Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where the company's CEO Haotian Bai formerly served as a fellow, cut ties with him last week, shortly after a CBS Sunday Morning investigation featuring the surrogate put a spotlight on loopholes and accusations of questionable practices in the commercial surrogacy industry. A subsequent story in the New York Post looked at Bai's background.
"He is no longer affiliated with the Hoover Institution," the institution said on its website. "In light of recent media reports, it is clear that Mr. Bai misled the Institution on the nature of his businesses." During his 2024-25 fellowship, Bai focused on veterans' access to in vitro fertilization.
He frequently advertises his surrogacy agency as veteran-founded. Bai said in a 2019 court declaration, filed in a dispute with a former business partner, that he served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan until 2017 and that he'd been diagnosed with PTSD.
Army spokesperson confirmed to CBS News that Bai served as a chemical operations specialist from November 2013 to October 2017. However, the Army said that while he assisted with units that were preparing to deploy, he never deployed himself. "He had no deployments and left the Army in the rank of specialist," said Christopher Surridge, a U.S.
After leaving the military, Bai co-founded another surrogacy agency in 2018. He ended up in a court battle with his co-founder a year later. The case was later voluntarily dismissed.
Bai founded Patriot Conceptions in 2019 The Hoover Institution said it would conduct "a full internal review" of the application process for the Veteran Fellowship Program. CBS News reached out to Patriot Conceptions, and in a written response, Bai said he went through "a normal application process as a U.S. Army veteran for a Hoover Institution fellowship in 2023 and was selected through what appeared to be their usual channels and protocols to be a fellow." The statement said there was "no point at which Mr Bai 'misled' the Hoover Institution about his research or his intentions." Bai's surrogacy agency caters to international clients, who make up 40% of its business — with an emphasis on intended parents from China.
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