Reports indicate that tens of thousands of extremely wealthy Chinese individuals are exploiting a controversial surrogate method to guarantee their children US citizenship.
The so-called “rent-a-womb” ploy has sparked fresh concerns over the birthright citizenship policy that’s been challenged by President Donald Trump.
Throughout his initial period in the presidency, Trump has focused on tackling birth tourism, the act of a woman traveling to a different country to give birth so the newborn can hold citizenship in both nations.
Last year, Trump implemented fresh visa regulations requiring border officials to question visibly pregnant women regarding the purpose of their visit before granting them entry into the United States.
Expecting women now must prove that they’re traveling to the US to give birth for medical reasons and not just so their baby can automatically be an American.
“Closing this glaring immigration loophole will combat these endemic abuses and ultimately protect the United States from the national security risks created by this practice,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said at the time.
“It will also defend American taxpayers from having their hard-earned dollars siphoned away to finance the direct and downstream costs associated with birth tourism.”
Between the visa crackdown and Covid-19 travel restrictions during the pandemic, birth tourism saw a decline.
However, a new loophole seeped through the cracks among some of the most elite world citizens.
Some of China’s wealthiest nationals have actually started hiring American woman as surrogates to bear their children instead of having them in the US themselves, according to several reports.
In 2023, a bombshell study conducted by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation lifted the lid on the scheme that could poke holes in the country’s national security.
“We have no idea who these children are,” Emma Waters, a Heritage research associate, told Fox News in 2023.
“So should they come back and get involved in research in academia or purchase contracts or even apply for jobs in sensitive areas, we don’t have clear tracking to show that these US citizens actually had a far more complicated background and path to the United States.”
In China, surrogacy is illegal, so many of the citizens are likely using Western nations’ more permissive laws to become parents.
However, the bizarre practice still raises further questions about the infiltration of China into American workforces and whether the children born of surrogates have unfair advantages, Waters said.
“When it comes to Chinese infiltration into every aspect of American life, this is huge red flag,” she said.
It’s impossible to track how many Chinese citizens have used the tactic to have American children as the documentation doesn’t have to be reported.
However, Waters claims she’s uncovered evidence that hundreds of Chinese natives have signed up with fertility agencies to find an American client.
Meanwhile, a recent report by NewsNation found tens of thousands of Chinese families had shelled out cash to women in California.
According to Joseph McNally, the acting attorney general for the central district of California, this is a cause for massive concern.
“Any time that somebody has a US passport it means that they have access to the United States,” he told NewsNation.
“That provides a real national security asset to China and a real problem to the United States.”
DISTURBING PRACTICE
Both bombshell reports found that American women will make a deal with a Chinese family and obtain an embryo that she has no relation to.
Then, the surrogate will give birth on US soil, making the baby an American citizen before the Chinese parents scoop it up.
The US is one of just a few countries that allow foreign surrogacy contracts. Other nations include India, Laos, Georgia, Ukraine, and Columbia.
In America, there are also only a few states that allow women to be paid to be surrogates. However, in those states, surrogates aren’t required to report foreign contracts.
“When it comes to actually tracking who these parents are, who the children are or even what the Chinese involvement is, it’s basically impossible to do so right now,” Waters said.
“It really is the Wild West of fertility treatments.”
Chinese ‘Rent-a-Womb’ Scheme Explained
WEALTHY Chinese nationals are hiring American surrogates to give birth on US soil, granting their children automatic American citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
Here is a breakdown of the disturbing scheme:
- Surrogacy is banned in China, pushing citizens to exploit more permissive surrogacy laws in the US.
- Experts warn these US-born children could later access sensitive roles or resources in America, with no clear tracking of their backgrounds.
- This practice has emerged as an alternative to “birth tourism,” which was targeted by Trump in his first presidency.
- In 2020, Trump introduced stricter visa rules to prevent pregnant women from entering the US solely to give birth.
- While exact numbers are unclear, reports suggest tens of thousands of Chinese families are engaging surrogates, particularly in California.
- US surrogacy laws vary by state, and surrogates aren’t required to report foreign contracts, making oversight nearly impossible.
- Critics argue this scheme is a “glaring loophole” that benefits China while posing risks to US national security.
- The practice raises questions about the interpretation of birthright citizenship and challenges to the 14th Amendment.
- The issue adds to broader concerns about Chinese influence in America, with calls for tighter regulation of surrogacy agreements and citizenship policies.
TRUMP’S ORDER
The day Trump was inaugurated, he signed an executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants and challenging the status quo of the US Constitution.
Since 1868, babies born on US soil have been deemed US citizens under the 14th Amendment’s “jurisdiction” wording.
The amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
However, Trump’s order has been challenged across the country, and every lower federal court that has considered the change has blocked it.
However, now the White House has passed his order up straight to the Supreme Court, and the administration is urgently awaiting an answer on next steps.
On Thursday, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan called for an urgent change in a conversation with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
He said, “I think the Supreme Court finally needs to answer that question. I’m not a lawyer, but I can read.
“And I don’t think it’s clear that an illegal alien who has a child in the country, is automatically a US citizen.”
