24th October 2026 – (Hong Kong) Hong Kong’s Council on Human Reproductive Technology has referred a case involving mainland influencer Tan Zubiao — known online as Berlin — to law-enforcement agencies after his firm was alleged to have offered to bring non-local surrogate mothers to the city to give birth.
Commercial surrogacy is a criminal offence under the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance. The Department of Health said reproductive technology procedures for infertile couples, including surrogate arrangements, are regulated by that ordinance. The council is the statutory body set up under the law to oversee such procedures and the handling, storage or disposal of gametes and embryos used in them. Section 17 bars commercial surrogate arrangements and the distribution of related advertising. The department said it had passed the matter to the council, which sought legal advice before handing the file to enforcement authorities.
The referral follows Tan’s deportation from Taiwan. He and his foreign husband, who have two children through surrogacy, promote family life and surrogacy services on social media. Kaohsiung health officials fined them NT$200,000 (about HK$48,000) for breaches of Taiwan’s Medical Care Act after they advertised assisted-reproduction services without being a licensed medical institution. Visiting as tourists while touting business also breached rules on mainland visitors’ tourism activities. They were removed from Kaohsiung by Taiwan’s immigration authorities on the evening of 22nd October.
On Instagram, Tan’s posts have repeatedly pitched help securing Hong Kong status for newborns. An “IVF Angel Plan” highlight promised to help “daddy” clients have babies born in Hong Kong, with photos of clients and infants. Other captions claimed a BabySun client’s baby had obtained permanent residency and a Hong Kong passport, displaying birth certificates, identity cards, HKSAR passports and re-entry permits photographed at a Hong Kong hospital. Further posts said more clients were choosing “Hong Kong babies”, that documents could be secured within five working days of birth, and that newborns could hold both a father’s passport and a Hong Kong passport. One shot showed Tan outside government offices holding a birth certificate beside a client with a baby.
Tan, whose legal name is Tan Zubiao, runs Babysun Fertility Center, described online as a US company marketing surrogacy and assisted reproduction. In Hong Kong, he is sole shareholder and director of Hong Kong Sunshine Information Consulting Co., Limited — registered with mixed traditional and simplified Chinese characters — and is also a shareholder of Infinity Holdings Group Limited. The Babysun enquiry line uses a +852 Hong Kong number. When reporters posing as clients asked whether a surrogate baby could be born in Hong Kong and whether the surrogate would be a local resident, a staff member said the surrogate would not be a Hong Konger but that the firm could “sponsor” its surrogates to the city so the child, born here, could obtain Hong Kong status.
Confronted with that pitch, Tan denied arranging any surrogate to come to Hong Kong, insisted his local business was fully compliant and blamed a colleague’s mistaken wording. “We can only do identity planning,” he said, adding that with an insurance licence the firm could help mainland or overseas clients pursue Quality Migrant, Top Talent Pass and other talent schemes. He accused reporters of chasing a big scoop yet said he had agreed to speak to clear the record.