Chinese television producer Zhang Heng, the former boyfriend of actress Zheng Shuang, announced on social media that he has won custody of their two children born through surrogacy in the United States.
In a Weibo post on Thursday (May 13), Zhang, who is currently in the US, wrote that he had received a court notice informing him that he had won his custody battle with Zheng, and that he had been granted "parenting solo decision-making authority".
Zheng, 29, was granted visitation rights to their two children.
"My hands are shaking with excitement, as this may be the only good news for me after more than one year of suffering," he wrote.
The 30-year-old added that he was willing to accept any punishment upon his return to China, as surrogacy is prohibited in the country.
He and Zheng made headlines in January after an incriminating video surfaced. In the recording, Zheng allegedly talked about what to do with two unborn children after her relationship with Zhang fell apart towards the end of 2019.
The children's surrogate mothers, who were in the US, were supposedly about seven months pregnant at the time.
At one point in the conversation, which involved the parents of the former couple, Zheng allegedly exclaimed: "The children really cannot be aborted. I am annoyed to death."
Zhang then accused her of abandoning their children and said he had been stuck in the US for a year. He said that he and his family "must take care of and protect two young and innocent lives".
Zheng, who found fame with her role in 2009's Chinese remake of Meteor Rain and its sequel the following year, has since been blacklisted by the Chinese authorities. She was also under probe for tax evasion and fraud in April.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.