Last updated on August 26th, 2026 at 08:26 am
House Republicans have introduced two bills targeting predators and foreign nationals who exploit the surrogacy industry to obtain children — prompted by a Pennsylvania case in which a registered sex offender acquired a surrogate-born infant boy with no legal barrier stopping him.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced HR 9131, the Protecting Kids From Creeps Act, after a homosexual couple from his state — Logan Riley and Tier 1 sex offender Brandon Mitchell — purchased a baby boy via surrogacy. Mitchell had pleaded guilty to soliciting explicit images from a male teenage student, with investigators uncovering more than 12,000 texts and explicit pictures between the former high school chemistry teacher and the minor. He served approximately two years in prison. No law prevented him from obtaining a child through surrogacy.
The Protecting Kids From Creeps Act would impose a minimum 10-year prison sentence on surrogacy agencies that recklessly facilitate agreements with registered sex offenders, and a minimum 20-year sentence if done knowingly. Agencies convicted under the law would also lose tax-exempt status.
Perry also introduced HR 9132, the Preventing International Surrogacy Exploitation Act, targeting foreign nationals — including Chinese nationals — who use U.S.-based surrogacy companies to obtain American-born children. Perry noted at the press conference that one Chinese man who calls himself “China’s first father” reportedly has over 100 U.S.-born children obtained through surrogacy.
The adoption system has extensive background check requirements precisely to protect children from predators. The surrogacy industry has no equivalent federal standard — a gap that allowed a convicted sex offender to raise a child. These bills would close that loophole.
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