The Babies Kept in a Mysterious Los Angeles Mansion

A wealthy couple obtained dozens of children through surrogates. Did they want a family, or something else?

February 9, 2026

Surrogacy is banned in many countries, but no federal laws govern the practice in the United States.Photograph by Willem Verbeeck for The New Yorker

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Ava Kofman is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She received a National Press Club Award and the Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism for her reporting on the hospice industry.

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