Giving birth in US alluring, and risky

(Ecns.cn) -- More than 5,000 pregnant Chinese traveled to the United States to have babies in the first half of 2012, according to an infant care center in Los Angeles.

That number was only about 600 in 2007, a clear sign that an increasing number of Chinese families are tempted to have babies born on U.S. soil, where newborns receive passports and citizenship, reports the state-run Globe magazine.

Chen Zilin, 32, is a mother of two, one with Chinese citizenship and the other American, both living in Beijing. Chen says she will never forget her experience as an expectant mother in the U.S., where each day was filled with nagging anxiety.

Chen had gotten pregnant with her second child in 2010 and found herself up against a possible violation of the one-child policy, which often motivates Chinese women to deliver abroad.

Moreover, the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution says any baby born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of the race of their parents or whether their parents have legal identities.

Giving birth there would not only solve the couple's problem of violating the one-child policy, but also guarantee many future benefits for the child – but only after enduring considerable expense, and risk.

Entering the country was the first nerve-wracking test for Chen, who was well aware that many pregnant women had been refused entry in the past.

To make herself look normal, Chen says she did not wear loose-fitting clothes, but chose a stylish suit instead, and submitted her papers at an immigration counter higher than her shoulders.

After settling down in Los Angeles, the couple began looking for a birthing center that was both reliable and affordable. Once the center had been selected, Chen says she spent more than $1,000 every month for food and accommodation during the prenatal period, and a lot more after delivery.

In most cases, airplane tickets, fees for labor, pre- and post-delivery care and other expenses cost a mother-to-be upwards of $20,000. If an unexpected situation arises, that cost could double or even triple, and there have been cases of deaths every year, says Chen.

Yet even after all these difficulties, parents are confronted with further problems, especially when they bring the children back to China. To maintain U.S. citizenship, one must renew a China travel permit every two years and U.S. passport every five years, which leads to extra expenses, for example.

Furthermore, as China does not recognize dual nationality and multiple citizenship, children with American citizenship must pay very high sponsorship fees to attend schools in China.

If they go to international schools – a better choice if they intend to claim their birthright as U.S. citizens in the future – the cost is even higher, and well beyond the financial capabilities of most families.

Under these pressures, some families take further risks by registering Chinese permanent residences, or hukou, for their "American" children. They do this secretly, because it could result in the loss of their children's citizenship if the U.S. government were to find out.

When asked about the motivation apart from dodging the one-child policy, many parents cite the superior education system and higher social benefits of the U.S. Yet most children will not be able to enjoy those benefits until they grow up, before which any number of problems could arise.

In the U.S., birthing centers for foreign expectant mothers are not formal medical institutions. Though it is not a crime to travel to the U.S. to give birth, the interests of pregnant women are not well protected there, the Globe magazine points out.