Question: Mainland Women & Childbirth in HKG

[Dreadnought]

Hi everyone,

I am curious to know about Mainland women coming to Hong Kong to deliver their child at a local hospital and then returning to China with their baby. What is the deal here?

1. Are they simply skirting the one-child policy (they still have that?) by having the child in Hong Kong? If so, what happens to them when they return to China, as they now have two children? Also, if this were the case, would the Central Government not notice and put a end to the practice?
2. Are they simply looking for better maternity care in Hong Kong? Is maternity care better here than in China?
3. What is the legal status of babies born in Hong Kong to non-resident Mainland Chinese women?
4. How does their legal status affect their parents? What rights are then granted to their parents, as far as their own legal status in Hong Kong is concerned?

It looks as though there is more to this than straightforward medical tourism. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,

Shakermaker

EDIT: Gee, I just realised that I posted this in the Travel forum. This was supposed to go into Health and Medical. Sorry about that. Could the mods please oblige?

[PDLM]

This is my understanding, although I haven't investigated this in detail...
1. No.
2. That's partly it.
3. The child has Permanent Resident status in HK.
4. None immediately, but when then they and the child are old enough I believe they can come as Dependants.

[pushan]

Why are you curious ? are you...

a) a mainlander

b) a woman

c) a newborn being born in HK

d) all of the above

e) none of the above ?

[Boris]

And it costs them a minimum of HKD39,000 to have it here as well to deter any Wing, Wang or Chen trying to come over and pop one out.

[Dreadnought]

Thanks, PDLM. I have another question - how old is old enough?

Pushan, it's E actually.

And since you asked, my curiosity arose when I realised that I had to queue up behind them at the boarding gate, with the rest of the J pax and Marco Polo Club members, which can be bloody annoying when there's just so f***ing many of them, to say nothing of the non-stop wailing and puking and pooping and so on and so forth. Upto 15 on one of my flights into China earlier this year and none of them looked to be more than a couple of months old.

Okay, I am only joking, in case you haven't already figured.

Seriously though, I am curious because I want to know what the implications, if any, would be for me as a Permanent Resident and taxpayer myself, who is considering citizenship. I would only hope that, since they can afford the fees at private hospitals, them parents are only looking to settle down in Hong Kong and make a life for themselves here, doing so at their own expense instead of taking a chunk out of the public coffers.

For an idea of what I am getting at, please read this article which, although it pertains to the impact of immigration, legal and illegal, in the United States, bears some relevance to my concern.

And it costs them a minimum of HKD39,000 to have it here as well to deter any Wing, Wang or Chen trying to come over and pop one out.

At the very least yes, not to mention transportation, accommodation, etc. By the way, the cost to move someone out of Indonesia and into Australia, their next door neighbour, is somewhere in the range of USD 10-15,000/head and I ain't talking about Links Relocation. Not much of a deterrent though, is it? C'maaaan.

[PDLM]

Thanks, PDLM. I have another question - how old is old enough?

In general, the Permanent Resident child would have to be over 18 and the parents aged 60 or above. But again, I'm not absolutely sure how this applies to Mainland Chinese; that's how it works for other PRs.

[pushan]

>> Pushan, it's E actually.

Thanks god ! for a moment I thot it wud be D !!!

A Chinese woman just born in HK and straight into GeoExpat !...don't blame me....kids are smart these days!

[Woodpecker]

Here is an excellent article about mainland mothers having babies in Hong Kong that just appeared in Washington Post:

washingtonpost.com

[Dreadnought]

Thanks for linking that article from the Post.

Clearly this is big business for:
- Agencies on the mainland providing their services for co-ordinating the whole gig.
- Hospitals in HKG, although more so for the private hospitals. By the way, do they distinguish between local patients and those from Mainland China and charge the latter more for maternity care?
- Not quite business-related, but a better way of life for the child, and eventually his/her parents.

Even without China's one-child policy, this arrangement has its benefits overall and, hypothetically, in the absence of the policy, the practice will probably be just as prevalent.

Sorry, but I still have questions.
- What is the HKSAR Government's position on this type of immigration?
- Is it seen as a problem? If it is, what are they doing to control it, apart from Public Hospitals temporarily suspending bookings from expectant mothers from the Mainland?

I see it as a problem that some of my tax dollars are inevitably going to go towards supporting them at some point, and when they do eventually give back to the Government, it will likely be towards the benefit/support of their own parents.

Another question, a little sensitive perhaps, could granting 'HKSAR rights and privileges' to Mainland China babies and their parents be seen as a factor that may erode the overseas privileges, currently enjoyed by HKSAR passport-holders, by virtue of the relative recency of their Mainland China background? I refer to less restrictive, if not free, access to over 100 countries, working-holiday schemes, etc.

Cheers.
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