Birth Tourism

Global tourism occurs for many reasons in different countries around the world. One growing reason for tourism is giving birth to a child. Birth tourism describes the act of traveling to another country to give birth to a child, for reasons that may include the destination’s health care system or so that the newborn child automatically receives citizenship in the destination country.

Under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citizenship is guaranteed to those who are born on U.S. soil (with certain narrow exceptions, including children born to diplomats). It is estimated that nowadays many parents from overseas, particularly from China, South Korea, and Taiwan, visit the United States shortly before their children are born to ensure that they will be born in the United ...