Woman who gave birth on plane 'deported from US to Taiwan without baby'

[Austin]

Woman who gave birth on plane 'deported from US to Taiwan without baby'

Video of delivery at 30,000 feet became viral hit, but heartwarming tale sours as mother is accused of flying late in pregnancy to claim US citizenship for baby



By Our Foreign Staff
11:47PM BST 21 Oct 2015

A woman who gave birth on a plane to the US has been deported home to Taiwan without her baby and may be ordered to pay $30,000 for diverting the flight, according to Chinese and Taiwanese media.

The China Airlines flight, from Bali to Los Angeles, was forced to make an emergency landing in Alaska after the woman's waters broke six hours into the 19-hour flight.

Cabin crew and a doctor helped deliver the baby girl weeks early to a woman known only by her surname Jian.

Video of the birth became a feel-good viral hit on the internet.

Passengers can be heard clapping and cheering.

However, the happiness soured when a former flight attendant with the airline revealed that the woman apparently failed to inform check-in staff she was 36 weeks pregnant.

In a post on her Facebook page, Lucienne Chen, said the woman told flight attendants she was just “feeling a little bloated”, according to the Shangaiist news site.

When she went into labour, she was told to lie down and prepare for delivery but refused, saying she would give birth later, and kept asking: “Are we in US air space yet?”

Amira Rajput, who captured the delivery on his phone, told ABC News that the new mother was challenged by a border patrol agent who came aboard the plane after landing and asked to see her passport.

"He told me that this is something foreign women do, to try and deliver overseas for citizenship," said Mr Rajput.

Taiwanese media reported that she had since been deported by US immigration authorities, covering her face with a jacket as she flew into Taipei airport.

They reported her newborn child is now under the care of state authorities in Alaska and that she faced a bill for $30,000.

"Not only did you take the lives of both yourself and your child as a joke, you also took the schedules of a plane full of people as a joke - all because of your child's American passport,” wrote Ms Chen in a post that has been shared more than 200,000 times.

"An entire plane had to be diverted, causing scheduling problems for all the other innocent passengers.

"The crew also had to stay for the night in Alaska. Do you know the true social cost of your actions?"

 

[Austin]

Taiwanese woman who give birth on US-bound flight may face US$33,000 compensation bill after plane diverted

PUBLISHED : Friday, 23 October, 2015, 6:33pm
UPDATED : Friday, 23 October, 2015, 10:05pm

Associated Press in Taipei

Crew working on board the China Airline airplane helped to deliver the baby girl on the morning of October 8. Photo: YouTube

A Taiwanese woman who gave birth on a flight to the US in what may have been an attempt to give her baby American citizenship could face a hefty bill for forcing the plane to divert to Alaska.

The insurance firm of China Airlines will decide whether to ask the unnamed passenger to cover the cost of the stopover to ensure the health of her baby, airline media affairs staffer Weni Lee said on Friday.

The flight made an emergency landing en route from Taipei to Los Angeles on October 8.

Taiwanese media have estimated the bill at US$33,000, although the airline said its insurer is still calculating the cost.

Local media have widely reported that the woman evidently wanted to give the child American citizenship. Taiwan’s China Times newspaper’s website said that, before giving birth, she repeatedly asked the cabin crew if they we in US air space.

Airline crew attend to the baby after the birth on a China Airline flight. Photo: YouTube

Those comments couldn’t be verified, and Lee said she could not confirm whether the passenger had made them.

Alaska state officials say the baby is eligible for US citizenship. A baby born in flight has the right to be a US citizen if that is the child’s first port of arrival, even if born in international air space, said Susan Morgan, spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Social Services.

The incident has garnered widespread attention in Taiwan, even rising to the level of parliamentary debate earlier this week.

“This is a selfish act,” ruling party legislator Luo Shu-lei Ö shouted at the transportation minister during a session Monday. “It was clearly an act carried out to give the child US citizenship. She affected the travel of other passengers. Is there no punishment?”

The China Times website said the woman was 36-weeks pregnant, but that she told the airline she was less than 32-weeks pregnant. Under Taiwanese law, passengers must provide a medical certificate saying they are fit to fly if they have passed the 32nd week of pregnancy.

The woman, whose identity has been kept confidential, was sent back Saturday from Alaska to Taiwan without the baby. American authorities have not said why.

Before the 1980s, when Taiwan was still developing economically, some mothers tried to give birth in the United States, but nowadays that is rare. A cottage industry has sprung up in recent years facilitating the travel of women from mainland China to the US to give birth and obtain automatic American citizenship for their babies.