Trend in Chinese Mothers Birthing Babies in the US Hits All-Time High

By Linda Ripoll

As millions of illegal immigrants in the US wait in limbo for Supreme Court rulings on the various state issued immigration laws, there is a silent trend that has been going on for years that involves foreigners, babies and US citizenship. According to a recent article on WorldCrunch.com, there is a surge of middle-class and wealthy Chinese women flocking to the US to deliver their children in order to grant their children US citizenship:

“Giving birth to a child in the States is a wonderful dream, but a very costly one too,” Song Jingwen concludes. “People who choose to go down this path must know that they will not be paying only for birthing and post birthing care, but they will also be paying a lot more for the whole life.”
 

Many of these women are seeking the benefits of US citizenship for their children in order to apply for visas and ultimately citizenship for themselves and the rest of their families once their children turn 21. What makes this occurrence illicit is that many of the Chinese mothers that come to the US to deliver their children are doing so at illegal Chinese birthing centers. These birthing centers are operating without business licenses which mean they are unregulated in the care and services that they provide.
 

Another aspect that many Chinese mothers and fathers don’t anticipate is the difficulty of applying for Chinese schools, health care and other services. If a child has a US passport, they automatically are required to pay the foreigner’s fee for all local services and resources. Many Chinese families opt to purchase fake Chinese birth certificates in order to be eligible for the resources without having to give up the US citizenship. It is illegal to claim dual citizenship in China so this causes a great deal of stress and frustration although it hasn’t seemed to stop Chinese mothers from planning their birthing trips to the US.