2023: The First Page
Hey, the school holiday will be over soon and I'd like to take note of what I have done today January 1, 2023. Hear me out.
My body is still attuned to the holiday mood, and not keen on finishing yet the computation of grades, I gave in to my fave pastime: watching Asian dramas. I stumbled upon this exciting movie Finding Mr. Right on Netflix. The file was shown in 2013, I browsed for a synopsis of the film and it is about:
A woman from Beijing, pregnant with the child of her rich married boyfriend flies to Seattle in order to deliver the baby. There she meets another Chinese immigrant man working as a driver, even as she finds her life beginning to change.
Aside from the blossoming friendship of Frank and Wen Jiajia (Tang Wei), I am also intrigued by the maternity homes in Seattle which housed pregnant Asian (Chinese) women. I thought the plot is not real but when I surfed the net, maternity homes that cater to Chinese women do exist in the US. I'm not questioning their freedom to do so but I'm just curious as to why do they have to deliver babies in US maternity homes.
MATERNITY CENTERS:
An article in Seattle Times reported that there are condos used as maternity centers for Chinese women. This article published on March 24,2011 emphasized though that these maternity centers are not illegal and there are several maternity centers in the US that catered to Asian women. I wonder why this is happening, then I read that one of the reasons is that they would give birth in the United States so their children would automatically gain citizenship.
In another article, Marketplace’s China correspondent Jennifer Pak on Mar 7, 2019, wrote about "How specialist agencies help Chinese mothers give birth in the U.S. The article shared the responses of the agencies on the main reasons why their clients want to have an American baby:
- Easier access to U.S. colleges as an American citizen;
- Better primary and secondary education in China — in Shanghai, the best primary and secondary schools are almost always private international institutions, and these places only admit students with foreign passports;
- Good medical care in the U.S. — American hospitals all offer epidural anesthesia, whereas most Chinese hospitals do not have effective painkillers for normal births.
- An immigration plan for the family — American-born children can sponsor their parents’ migration to the U.S. when they turn 21;
- A better future for the child — the U.S. is stronger than China because it has freedom and democracy;
- Education — if the child applies for U.S. colleges as a Chinese citizen, the family might spend the same amount as our services cost or more. However, if the child is an American citizen then it’s much cheaper to study in the U.S. (Pak,2019)
BIRTH TOURISM
Giving birth in another country is part of "birth tourism". A piece of follow-up information I gathered in relation to this is that the US amended their guidelines on birth tourism. The DEPARTMENT of STATE — BUREAU of CONSULAR AFFAIRS advisory on January 23, 2020, that its B nonimmigrant visa regulation is amended to address birth tourism. This mandates that U.S. consular officers overseas will deny any B visa application from an applicant whom the consular officer believes is traveling for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child.
As to why there is such an amendment, I have read one CNN report where it stated that the Whitehouse made such changes in the rule as it is “necessary to enhance public safety, national security, and the integrity of our immigration system".
CHINA'S POLICY ON KIDS OF UNWED MOTHERS
In one part of the film, Jiajia cried and explained why she had to go through the process of giving birth in the US and I recalled she mentioned that since she is a mistress, her unborn son may not be registered. In the Philippines, unmarried women may register their child's birth and the child born"outside marriage" (formerly "illegitimate") may also get rights to ancestral property. However, in China, Emily Feng and Amy Cheng in their article on November 6, 2019, in NPR narrate that Kids Of Unwed Mothers May Be Barred From Public Health Care, Education. It further states that China has a detailed family code that makes no mention of single parents which leaves many Chinese women stuck in a legal gray zone where they are unable to access basic public services for themselves and their children.
Li S, Zhang Y, and Feldman (2010) explained that in China, the Birth Registration system refers to the system that records a child’s birth, testifies to its citizenship, and registers its permanent residence, known as Hukou, by the household registration department (Wang, 2001 as cited by Li et al ,2010). Hukou registration is the only symbol that BR has been carried out and completed, and Hukou registration is one of the most important components of the household management system in China. A child cannot acquire most of his or her rights without Hukou registration. To apply for BR, the following need to be provided: a medical birth certificate (MBC) issued by the Public Health (PH) department, a birth certificate (BC) issued by the Population and Family Planning (PFP) department, and the parents’ Hukou booklets or identity cards issued by Public Security (PS) departments.
This policy on BR give resulted in a significant number of unregistered children in China. According to a report by UNICEF, in 19 countries including China, 26% to 60% of children less than five years old were not registered (Deen, 2002).
CHINA'S DECLINING BIRTH RATE
It is good to note that there seem to be changes in China's policy on birth registration. Gao Feng (2022.09.14 ) wrote for RFA Mandarin that China's Anhui publishes draft rules allowing single parents to register births. it further states that the said move aims to boost the country's flagging birth rate, as population growth slows.
Now, after understanding the situation presented in the film, I think I've chosen a good movie because it has a happy ending and I learned about the phenomena of birth tourism. Moreover, it also provided a glimpse of women's empowerment because Jiajia eventually found the courage to raise her child alone and end the toxic relationship.
References:
Li S, Zhang Y, Feldman MW. Birth Registration in China: Practices, Problems and Policies. Popul Res Policy Rev. 2010 Jan 1;29(3):297-317. doi: 10.1007/s11113-009-9141-x. PMID: 21113384; PMCID: PMC2990197.
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