Surrogacy Scandal Father Wanted 21 Kids For Altruistic Reasons, Lawyer Claims

The father of 21 children embroiled in a surrogacy scandal genuinely wanted to raise a bunch of kids who would contribute to the world ... at least according to his lawyer.

Here's the deal ... last summer, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang of Arcadia, California, were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after the 21 children were discovered to be living in one home. According to a search warrant, the investigation began after an infant suffered an apparent head injury.

Investigators claim video from inside the home shows a nanny -- Chunmei Li -- holding the infant. The infant allegedly cries for a few seconds before "a thud or hit is heard," and then the "crying suddenly stops."

Chumei -- who remains at large -- then allegedly tried to shake the baby awake.

Mitchell Krems -- the attorney representing Xuan -- told ABC 7 his client wasn't raising the kids for nefarious purposes. They were born via a surrogacy agency owned by Xuan and Zhang.

Instead, Krems claims his client's "desire to have so many kids emanates from his altruism."

Krems continued, "The reason he has all these children is because he wants them to contribute to society. He is not a man who is self-indulgent. Some who are wealthy might spend on jewelry or cars, but he is actually spending his resources to help his children become educated so that they can be the philosophers, the physicians, the researchers and the inventors that help society."