A New Kind of Birth Tourism

In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Emma Waters, a Senior Research Associate at the Heritage Foundation, joins Mark Krikorian, the Center’s Executive Director, to discuss the recent development of international commercial surrogacy, which creates tremendous potential for immigration fraud and exploitation and poses a national security risk.

International commercial surrogacy refers to the process by which foreign nationals contract with surrogates in the United States to have a child on their behalf. While this child is subsequently raised in a foreign country, the child is granted U.S. citizenship by virtue of their birth here, making it easier for the parents of this child to eventually obtain U.S. citizenship. This system is unique to the United States, as other Western countries either ban international surrogacy or do not have birthright citizenship.

Waters states that international commercial surrogacy is a “situation of immigration fraud as well as a national security risk.” The most common demographic of foreign nationals who come to the U.S. for surrogacy are Chinese men, and thus this form of birth tourism allows children who are raised in China and shaped by CCP influence to obtain U.S. citizenship, posing a threat to U.S. national security.

To prevent this form of birth tourism, Waters emphasizes that U.S. immigration laws need to be updated to reflect technological advancements in surrogacy, childbirth, etc. She points to recent examples of nations, such as Nepal and India, which have successfully restricted commercial surrogacy. She also highlights the importance of publishing information surrounding international commercial surrogacy, such as state records regarding the number of surrogacy contracts in each state and the country of origin of the contracting parents.

Waters and Krikorian agree that once information regarding the abuses in the international commercial surrogacy industry becomes available, it will be possible for Congress and state governments to take action against this particularly troublesome form of birth tourism.

Highlights:

• The U.S. has no federal laws governing international commercial surrogacy, making it extremely difficult to identify the children and parents involved in this industry.
• The majority of fertility clinics are in California, and these surrogacy agencies often have deep connections in China.
• The Heritage Foundation has recently filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking data regarding the countries of origin of contracting parents as well as the number of surrogacy contracts in states such as California.
• Addressing the problem of international commercial surrogacy ultimately requires “[preventing] foreign nationals from accessing commercial surrogacy in the United States,” but this would require states to forego the financial interest they have in continuing this lucrative industry.
• Recently, some Republican lawmakers have expressed interest in addressing the abuses of this troublesome form of birth tourism through legislation, focusing on how commercial surrogacy harms American surrogate mothers and places the interests of foreign countries above the interests of American citizens.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

Guest

Emma Waters is a Senior Research Associate at the Heritage Foundation.

Related

The New Face of Birth Tourism: Chinese Nationals, American Surrogates, and Birthright Citizenship

The Rise and Fall of International Adoption

America’s Rent-A-Womb Industry Lures An Alarming Number Of Chinese Nationals

Birth Tourism: Facts and Recommendations

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".