Birth tourism isn’t a term heard every day, but it is a real and often controversial phenomenon. This article explains what birth tourism is, why it happens, whether it is legal and where it is most common.
What is birth tourism?
As the name suggests, birth tourism is the act of travelling to a different country for the purpose of giving birth. There are various reasons why pregnant people choose to do this, which are explained below. It is not a new phenomenon, and it is most commonly associated with countries that offer automatic birthright citizenship, such as the USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
It is worth noting that birth tourism is completely unrelated to the concept of a babymoon, which is explained in this guide to babymoons.
Why does birth tourism happen?
Why does birth tourism exist? One reason is that people may want to give birth where it’s free or at least much cheaper than their home country. They also may feel like other countries are able to provide better (and/or safer) medical care during and immediately after the birth. Childbirth is a terrifying process for many, and people want to feel as confident as possible as they bring a new life into the world.
But the main reason for birth tourism is citizenship purposes. People will travel to a different country to give birth there so that the child has birthright citizenship, also known as jus soli. There are many reasons why someone may want their child to have citizenship in a different country…
Anchor babies
An anchor baby is a child born in a country for the purpose of helping their parents obtain permanent residency there. Due to the baby having birthright citizenship, it should then be easier for the parents and other family members such as siblings to gain legal and permanent residency. The term is widely considered to be offensive. It often comes into play during immigration arguments, especially in the US.
Canadians use the term ‘passport baby’ in the same way.
Future life improvement
Another reason for giving birth to a child in a foreign country, therefore giving them birthright citizenship, is in order to ensure they have access to solid healthcare and a good education in the future. This is to benefit the child themselves.
Two-child policy
In the past, people have engaged in birth tourism to get around the Chinese two-child policy – and the one-child policy before it. China introduced a three-child policy in 2021 in response to falling birth rates, and has since removed penalties for having more children. Iran, Singapore and Vietnam have also all had two-child policies in place at one time or another. Birth tourism was a way of circumventing this issue.
Right of abode
This relates specifically to Chinese citizens travelling to Hong Kong to give birth. Doing so gives the child ‘right of abode’ – also known as permanent residence – to live and work in Hong Kong in the future. They would have all the same rights as anyone else born in Hong Kong. This phenomenon has led to tensions between the people of China and the people of Hong Kong, with the latter even taking to the streets to protest the rise in birth tourism.
Is birth tourism illegal?
For the most part, globally, there are no actual laws against travelling to a different country to give birth there. And the reasons which people do it aren’t technically illegal either. This is not to say that it isn’t legally tricky, or frowned upon by the law…
Birth tourism scrutiny in the US
In 2020, the first Trump administration introduced new visa rules allowing US consular officers to refuse tourist visas to applicants they believed were travelling primarily to give birth in the US. This did not stop all pregnant women from gaining entry, because they might be travelling for other reasons, such as visiting a relative or for work.
The rule will not apply to foreign travelers coming from any of the 39 mainly European and Asian countries enrolled in the Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of those countries to come to the U.S. without a visa for temporary stays. The rule will only apply to applicants for so-called “B” class visas that permit short-term stays for business or pleasure, reported AP News.
The report added: The practice of traveling to the U.S. to give birth is fundamentally legal, although there are scattered cases of authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies for visa fraud or tax evasion. And women are often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even show signed contracts with doctors and hospitals.
The State Department “does not believe that visiting the United States for the primary purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child, by giving birth in the United States — an activity commonly referred to as ‘birth tourism’ — is a legitimate activity for pleasure or of a recreational nature,” according to the new rules.
In January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the US to mothers who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily (for example, as tourists), unless the father is a US citizen or permanent resident. The order was immediately challenged in the courts as unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment and was blocked from taking effect, with the legal battle reaching the US Supreme Court. Anyone affected should check the latest legal position.
Changing citizenship laws
Partly because of birth tourism, a number of countries have changed their citizenship laws. Instead of granting citizenship to anyone born in the country, the following nations now only grant citizenship at birth if at least one parent is a citizen or a legal permanent resident (in some cases, one who has lived there for a number of years):
- Australia (since 1986)
- France
- Germany
- India
- Ireland (since 2005, following a referendum in 2004)
- New Zealand (since 2006)
- South Africa
- United Kingdom (since 1983)
Jus sanguinis
As opposed to jus soli, the concept of jus sanguinis relates to citizenship being designated by the nationality or ethnicity of one or both parents – despite where the child is born. So for example, a couple who are British and French respectively could give birth to a child in neither of these countries. If the country of birth operated under jus soli, the baby would automatically be a citizen of this country. However, if the birth country uses the process of jus sanguinis then the child would take either British or French citizenship. Historically, many countries passed citizenship only through the father, but today most allow it to pass through either parent.
Popular birth tourism destinations
Some of the most common birth tourism destinations are outlined in more detail below.
Birth tourism in North America
As mentioned earlier, the North American countries all offer automatic birthright citizenship, with dual citizenship also allowed. However, this may not always be a positive thing. For example, US citizens are subject to US taxation on their worldwide income even if they do not live in the US. A person born in the US who leaves as a baby and never returns could therefore still have US tax obligations as an adult, unless they formally renounce their citizenship – which costs $450 (reduced from $2,350 in 2023).
The Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that favours lower immigration, has estimated that there are around 33,000 births a year as a result of birth tourism in the US. They also say that the most common countries people travel from for birth tourism are China, Taiwan, Korea, Nigeria, Turkey, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.
Brazil
People also travel to Brazil for birth tourism purposes. Children born here, in the largest country in South America, are granted Brazilian citizenship at birth under jus soli – meaning they are Brazilian regardless of their parents’ nationalities. Parents can then apply for ‘residency of the indefinite term’ due to the child having Brazilian citizenship.
International Wealth say: After obtaining residency by submitting your child’s birth certificate and copies of passports, you will be eligible to apply for citizenship after one year.
This fast-track naturalization process is desirable for a parent to obtain a relatively “cheap” second citizenship for you and your family. Your child will benefit from being a citizen of the Mercosur region, allowing them to live, study and work anywhere in the area.
Neighbouring Argentina, which also grants citizenship to anyone born in the country, made headlines in 2022 and 2023 when thousands of pregnant Russian women travelled there to give birth following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attracted by Argentina’s passport and its relatively fast route to citizenship for parents.
Birth tourism in Hong Kong
As mentioned earlier, many mainland Chinese parents travel to Hong Kong to give birth so their children can enjoy ‘right of abode’ in the future. This came as a result of the 2003 Individual Visit Scheme which allowed people from Mainland China to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis. Before this, residents could only visit as part of a group tour or on a business visa.
This new rule provided an opportunity for pregnant people to head to Hong Kong and give birth there, thus securing ‘right of abode’ for their offspring. But of course, this resulted in a shortage of resources (hospital beds, midwives, medical equipment and so on) for local residents. This led to protests, and from 2013 the Hong Kong government introduced a ‘zero quota’ policy, under which hospitals stopped accepting delivery bookings from mainland women whose husbands are not Hong Kong residents.
Birth tourism: FAQs
Below are answers to some of the most common questions about birth tourism.
What is birth tourism?
Birth tourism is travelling to another country to give birth, usually so that the child can gain citizenship of that country through birthright citizenship (jus soli), or to access better or cheaper medical care.
Is birth tourism legal?
In most countries, travelling to give birth is not illegal in itself. However, lying on a visa application or committing fraud to do so is illegal, and some countries, such as the US, allow officials to refuse visas to people travelling primarily to give birth.
Which countries give citizenship by birth?
Countries with unrestricted birthright citizenship include the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, along with many other countries in the Americas. Most of Europe, Asia and Africa do not grant automatic citizenship by birth.
What is the difference between jus soli and jus sanguinis?
Jus soli (right of the soil) grants citizenship based on place of birth, while jus sanguinis (right of blood) grants citizenship based on the nationality of one or both parents.
Why did Hong Kong restrict birth tourism?
Large numbers of mainland Chinese women gave birth in Hong Kong so their children would gain right of abode, putting pressure on hospitals. From 2013, Hong Kong introduced a ‘zero quota’ policy to stop this.
Birth tourism: Further reading
If you found this article on birth tourism useful, these articles may also be of interest:
- 150 types of tourism: A glossary
- What is health tourism and why is it growing?
- Medical tourism: What, where and why
- What is special interest tourism and why is it so popular?
- What is alternative tourism and why is it growing so fast?
