Chinese give birth in the United States to secure benefits: ‘Birth-tourism’ is born

By Douglas Earnst
November 29, 2013
The Washington Times
 

A new U.S. industry is booming with Chinese women — the “birth-tourism” industry.

Thousands of Chinese women are flocking to America each year to give birth, Time magazine reported. The move confers citizenship on the newborns, which opens up a range of benefits for foreigners.

“At least 10,000 such Chinese babies were born in America last year,” Time magazine reported. Many of these women pay businesses upwards of $30,000 and $40,000 to handle the logistics, hoping that one day they will reap rewards from their child’s U.S. citizenship. One such company, The Jia Mei Canadian and American Baby Counseling Services Center, handles airfare, housing and citizenship paperwork for its customer’s newborns.

Some of the reasons for the “birth-tourism” industry include the prospect that children will eventually sponsor their parents for citizenship and lower fees for public universities. China’s one-child policy, which has been relaxed recently, has also been a motivating factor for these women to give birth in the United States. Time magazine notes that California is a magnet for the Chinese due to its university system.

“My wife thinks the air in L.A. is very good, and the food safety is good,” Jiang Wenjun, whose wife gave birth in America, told Time magazine. Mr. Jiang worked with Jia Mei’s baby counseling services to secure his son’s citizenship. “The weird thing is that many products are actually cheaper in America than in China. Maybe it makes sense for my son to live there sooner rather than later.”