Lets be honest here, before reading the title of this post, how many people have actually heard of maternity tourism or the concept of it? I know I had not heard of it before reading an article last night in the NYTimes on this subject. This topic comes to light after officials closed a maternity house in San Gabriel, California the other day. The reasons for closing the house had nothing to do with illegal activity, but rather with violations of building codes and occupancy. What is happening is that pregnant women, many from China, are paying tens of thousands of dollars to come to the United States on a tourist visa, have their child at one of these "maternity houses", and then return their own country with a new U.S. citizen. How can this happen? It is actually quite simple, the United States says that any child born within the United States is automatically a U.S. citizen. There is absolutely nothing illegal in what these women are doing. The houses that the women give birth in are clean, well-tended, and the actual birthing rooms sometimes rival those found in a hospital. After this latest incident, the babies in the house were examined by a doctor and found to be in perfect health.
So what is the big issue here? Well, for many people it would seem to be an immigration issue. There are those who, because of this new trend, would have the law allowing birthright citizenship revoked. However, this would fly in the face of who we are as a country. Moreover, the number of births occurring through maternity tourism is negligible when compared to the overall number of births in this country every year. Out of 4 million births every year, maternity tourism accounts for just around 7500. If you want to look at it from an economic standpoint, it could actually be construed as beneficial. These women are paying to come to this country, giving birth in homes, not hospitals (thus not sucking our taxpayer dollars), and leaving with the child (we don't have to pay for education). This might actually benefit our education system as well. These children will probably receive a better education abroad than they would here, as sad as that may sound. Ultimately, the only thing they leave with is a United States citizen, guaranteeing them unlimited return access if they should need it. There are more pressing issues regarding immigration than the one represented by maternity tourism, but that is a whole different topic for discussion.
In part, it seems as if these women on maternity tourism, are creating for themselves an insurance policy. Should the proverbial "shit" hit the fan in China (the main source of this phenomenon) these women bearing U.S. citizens will have an exit strategy. To me this is brilliant on their part and just goes to show how things are really going in China. If Chinese citizens are content with their country, satisfied with its economic progression, and enjoy living there, then there would be no maternity tourism. I think that as the Chinese government increasingly bears down on society and its freedoms, that there will be an even larger influx of maternity tourism to this country. The women who are coming here to give birth are well-to-do. They are not lower or middle class in China and thus they understand what their government is doing to its people and see how things are in a downward spiral. They see the larger picture and would much rather enjoy the freedoms of the United States to their country's oppression. To me this is a testament to the American Dream and its survival beyond the borders of our country. People throughout the world still view the United States as a symbol of freedom and hope.
Where has our own view of the American Dream gone, the dream that anything is possible if we set our minds to it and anything can be accomplished. It seems that this dream, held for so long as a basic tenet of who we are, has lapsed, leaving us disillusioned and melancholic. There are many in our own country who do not value the freedom that we possess as highly as those outside our borders. Our government may slip up from time to time (ok, maybe a little more often than that), but that does not mean that we should lose the American spirit. We should not need an event such as 9/11 to reinvigorate our sense of self or patriotism. If foreigners can view our country more highly than we do, there is something wrong. We need to look at the life we lead, compare it with any other country in the world, and we will see that things really aren't as bad as they seem. We need a little perspective it seems. Instead of condemning others for desiring to be U.S. citizens, lets celebrate the fact that our country is still viewed by many as a country of freedom, a country where people can live the life they dream, a country where individual freedom is valued and not stifled. How many of us display the American flag anymore? I don't, but today I plan on going out and buying one. I urge everyone reading this to do the same. Show people that you are proud to live in this country, proud to live a free life, and proud to be called a United States citizen.
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