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DENVER (KCNC) – A messy celebrity custody battle is unfolding in Denver County Court.
However, the celebrities in this case hail from China, where their scandal has rocked the country and resulted in their being banned from social media.
Shuang Zheng is a megastar actress and Heng Zhang is a reality TV producer. They came to the US three years ago to have children through surrogate mothers, which is illegal in China.
But two months before the birth of their son and daughter, the couple separated.
Zhang says his ex-girlfriend wanted to abort the babies. He offered to raise her alone.
“I told her I understand that because you’re a celebrity, you don’t want anyone to know that you have a loan baby in the United States,” Zhang said.
He says Zheng returned to China and settled in Denver with his parents as a single father.
A year later, he says, his ex-girlfriend suddenly reappeared and asked for custody of the children.
Their altercation in Denver County Court made international headlines, but Zhang says what’s happening behind the scenes is far more troubling.
“In the last six months, both of my children have been injured very badly while staying with my ex-girlfriend.”
Zhang provided pictures showing stitches in his daughter’s finger and what appeared to be a burn under his son’s nose.
He says his ex’s explanation for the injuries keeps changing, while his kids get scared when they have to see their mother.
“My son was like, ‘No, don’t go, dad. Let’s go home. I’m afraid. I’m scared of Mama’ and I’m crying. So I called the child protection service because they told me mom did it,” Zhang said.
He says the security services have failed him, which is why he is speaking up.
“I want everyone who lives in Colorado to know this story. The reason we have the child protection department is because we want to protect our children before they get hurt, not after they got hurt the department started investigating, it’s too late,” he said.
Zheng’s attorneys, Martha Timmers and Madeleine Rosengrants of Sherman & Howard, released a statement stating:
“Shuang Zheng clearly denies that she ever abused or neglected her children. No crime, addiction and neglect, or child protection services cases have been filed at this time. The only “inquiry” we are aware of is a home visit our client received on January 4, 2023, which lasted approximately five minutes. During that visit, police found the children to be happy and healthy and when asked if further investigation was needed, police declined. In March 2022, the court significantly extended our client’s parenting time with the children, including awarding her nightly parenting time weekly. In June 2022, the court ruled that the father was not allowed to move to China with the children. Father’s false abuse allegations began after his court losses. Apparently, when his case was unsuccessful in court, the father turned to having his case tried in the court of public opinion…”
Family law will be the subject of several bills in the Colorado State Capitol during the 2023 legislative session, which begins next week.
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