The Army veteran behind a California-based surrogacy company that catered to wealthy Chinese nationals is facing an investigation from his former employer over questions about his background.
Haotian Bai, a 37-year-old U.S. Army veteran, founded the Irvine-based Patriot Conceptions, which recently made headlines after a California surrogate identified as “Judy” discovered she was carrying a child intended for Chinese billionaire Xu Bo, who has reportedly fathered more than 100 children through such arrangements. Patriot Conceptions told her the intended parent was a single father hoping to expand his family, Judy told CBS News.
The New York Post subsequently reported that Bai’s Patriot Conceptions is a “baby factory” for “Chinese nationals to have American kids.”
Following the publication of the bombshell reports, the Hoover Institution, where Bai previously held a fellowship, updated his author page with a statement reiterating that Bai is “no longer affiliated” with them, raising concerns that he “misled” them.
The page also says that the Hoover Institution has launched an investigation into Bai’s application process for his fellowship, which focused on veteran access to IVF through military healthcare.
“In light of recent media reports, it is clear that Mr. Bai misled the Institution on the nature of his businesses. A full internal review of the application process to the Veteran Fellowship Program will be conducted by institutional leadership, and necessary changes will be implemented immediately,” the page reads.
Kate Gardiner, a spokesman for Bai, denied the allegation that the veteran “misled” the think tank and said he was selected for the fellowship after going “through a normal application process in 2023.”
“There was no point at which Mr. Bai ‘misled’ the Hoover Institution about his research or his intentions,” Gardiner said.
“As part of his fellowship he primarily researched facilitating reproductive care for those using Tricare,” Gardiner added. “The results of that work continue to be part of Patriot’s business model and its commitment to the families of American servicemen … What is a matter of public record is the Institution’s own published profile of Mr. Bai, which described Patriot Conceptions as a comprehensive platform facilitating connections between intended parents and surrogates and egg donors — a commercial surrogacy business, in the Institution’s own words. Nothing about the nature of its business changed during Mr. Bai’s fellowship.”
Gardiner declined to say whether Bai submitted information he now believes was inaccurate or incomplete in his application.
“He no longer has access to his fellowship application materials, and he will not characterize their contents from memory. For that reason, he declines to address questions about what was disclosed in those materials,” she said.
Asked if Bai disclosed his work with wealthy Chinese nationals and other international parents to the Hoover Institution, Gardiner said it “was a matter of business.”
The previous description of Bai on the Hoover Institution’s website stated that Patriot Conceptions “has dramatically transformed the third-party reproduction industry,” according to The Stanford Review.
It went on to say that the company “offers a comprehensive platform that facilitates connections between intended parents and surrogates and egg donors,” adding that “Under Bai’s leadership, the company has developed a national network offering specialized services, significantly aiding hundreds of families in realizing their dreams of parenthood.”
“A distinctive aspect of Patriot Conceptions is its commitment to military families, providing special discounts to service members and veterans, reflecting Bai’s continuous dedication to supporting his fellow servicemen and -women … Through these initiatives, Bai exemplifies a unique blend of patriotism, hard work, and technological insight, making significant impacts in each sector he touches,” the description read.
Bai claimed in a since-deleted article on the institution’s website that Patriot Conceptions is an advocacy and resource hub for military families facing fertility issues, according to The Stanford Review.
A spokesman for the Hoover Institution did not respond to a request for comment.
Gardiner dismissed allegations in “recent media reports” surrounding the agency and Bai, saying they “contain significant factual inaccuracies and misleading implications.”
“Patriot Conceptions is a California-based family-building agency providing surrogacy and egg-donation coordination services to a diverse community including American individuals and couples experiencing infertility, LGBTQ+ families, single-intended parents, military families, and international families,” she said. “Our work includes coordination, communication, and support among all parties and professionals involved in the process.”
Gardiner addressed Judy’s claims, saying Patriot Conceptions “has only one active surrogacy journey involving Xu Bo,” and that they “were not aware of any other surrogacy arrangements” when they engaged with him.
“In every agency-coordinated journey at Patriot Conceptions, the parties are represented by separate legal counsel. Each party has the opportunity to review relevant information, ask questions, consult their respective attorneys, and decide whether to proceed,” Gardiner said. “Patriot Conceptions does not make legal decisions for either party and does not compel any party to accept a match or contractual terms.”
“We reject inflammatory labels and political insinuations mischaracterizing lawful third-party reproduction and the families, gestational carriers, and professionals involved in it. Neither Patriot Conceptions nor its founder have any affiliation with a foreign government, political party, military organization, or intelligence service,” she said.
Patriot Conceptions is now “working with legal and communications counsel to request corrections in a number of wildly inaccurate articles that have been published this week,” Gardiner said.
“Because surrogacy matters involve confidential medical, legal, and personal information, we cannot publish private contracts or disclose every detail of an individual journey in a public forum. That responsibility should not be mistaken for an inability to substantiate our position,” Gardiner said.
“We are also reviewing additional safeguards to help agencies like ours identify undisclosed simultaneous arrangements involving unrelated providers. Patriot Conceptions remains committed to informed decision-making, independent legal representation, responsible coordination, and respectful support for every intended parent and gestational carrier we serve,” she added.
Before taking on his latest role leading Patriot Conceptions, Bai helped arrange an internship program for Chinese students in the Hawaii state legislature, according to Hawaii News Now. The program was later shut down over allegations that the students were being exploited and poorly taken care of.
Former Hawaii state Rep. Matthew LoPresti, a Democrat, told the New York Post that he was concerned after Chinese students suddenly began appearing in his office in 2018 without his request, particularly because his office had been involved in sensitive military and intelligence matters.
“These Chinese kids were not necessarily what they claimed to be there for,” LoPresti said. “There was something suspicious about it. I brought it to the FBI’s attention. The timing was very strange.”
Bai denied that students were being exploited and that he ever sold the internship to students, according to the Post. He did not face charges over the incident.
The controversy surrounding Bai and his Patriot Conceptions comes as the Trump administration attempts to crack down on the abuse of birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court in June struck down President Donald Trump’s first attempt to end birthright citizenship.
In August, Trump signed executive orders seeking to end the exploitation of birthright citizenship through birth tourism and certain surrogacy arrangements. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked one of the orders.
Bai’s spokesman denied that Patriot Conceptions provides “immigration, citizenship-planning, or nationality-related services.”
“Any legal status or citizenship question is determined by applicable law and government authorities, not by our company,” she said.
Patriot Conceptions’ website has a designated page for “international parents” that offers a translation in Chinese and communication via the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat.
In a 2024 podcast, Bai shared that the company was starting to see new “opportunities” from foreign “customers,” specifically mentioning China.
“What we see and what I predict is really just gonna be more international customers coming to the United States and because of all the news surrounding surrogacy in other parts of the world. Also, in countries like China, the second biggest economy in the world, the surrogates is not legal either … they just started to impose more harsh punishment on certain [unintelligible] offenders too,” Bai said.
“Those are opportunities for us because we understand,” he added. “Eventually this is a very altruistic action, we don’t feel bad about conducting this business and if more customers are gonna come to the U.S., we’re ready to take on them.”
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