Pregnant woman loses lawsuit after US denied her entry to give birth

A Chinese woman who was denied entry into Saipan during an effort to give birth on US territory lost a fraud lawsuit against the childbirth center that arranged her trip, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday.

However, a court in Haidian district, Beijing, ruled that the childbirth center that arranged the trip must refund the woman surnamed Lu 33,000 yuan ($4,800), her initial payment and the fee for airplane tickets.

The court rejected Lu’s claims for an additional 220,000 yuan in damages.

Lu and the childbirth center signed an agreement for her to give birth in the US territory of Saipan, the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, after Lu’s visa application to the US mainland was rejected twice in October 2016, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.

The childbirth center caters to the desires of some women to give birth on US soil so that the newborn automatically acquires US citizenship.

Lu flew to the island in late October but was denied entry and sent back to China.

The woman sued the center for fraud, claiming it promised her entry to Saipan and instigated her to make a false certificate of employment and proof of gestational age document before applying for a medical visa.

She also sought damages because the center caused her to fruitlessly take the risk of flying when she was 36 weeks pregnant, said the report.

According to the agreement, the center should return the deposit and ticket fee to Lu if she is rejected from entry, the court affirmed in the ruling. However, there was no evidence to prove Lu’s claims of fraud, according to the ruling.