An airplane is not an ideal place to give birth, but sometimes there are no other options. On May 10, Victoria couple Ada Guan and Wesley Branch were flying to Tokyo from Calgary when Guan went into labor over the Pacific Ocean. She had no idea she was pregnant. Guan gave birth on the plane to a little girl named Chloe who was appropriately born on Mother’s Day. While it is relatively uncommon to have a baby on an airplane, it certainly does happen.
New Year’s Eve Baby
New Year’s Eve 2008 proved to be quite exciting on a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Boston. A Ugandan woman, who was eight months pregnant, gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Sasha. Since the little girl was born over Canadian airspace she was given Canadian citizenship.
Million Dollar Baby
Saskatchewan couple Jennifer Huculak and Darren Kimmel found it can be quite expensive to have a child away from home. Huculak did not give birth on a plane but did have travel related issues with her pregnancy. In October 2013, she and her husband embarked on a Hawaiian vacation. At the time of the trip, Huculak was 24 weeks pregnant and had doctor approval to travel. To be on the safe side, the couple purchased travel insurance from Saskatchewan Blue Cross. Two days after they landed, Huculak’s water broke. She ended up spending six weeks in the hospital on bed rest. Her daughter, Reece, stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for two months after she was born. Saskatchewan Blue Cross ultimately refused to pay the $900,000 bill citing a pre-existing kidney infection, which the couple said had nothing to do with the early delivery.
Free Airplane Tickets
Even moms who think they plan ahead can end up having their babies on airplanes. Debbie Owens planned to fly home to the United Kingdom from Ghana to be sure there would be no question about her child’s British citizenship. It was six weeks before Owens due date, and she had no concerns about going into early labor. Several hours into the flight, she started having contractions. At the time, the airplane was over Algeria and the pilot told her landing was not an option. There were no medical facilities near the airport, and language and currency differences could make the situation worse. Shortly after they flew past Paris, her daughter, Shona Kirsty Ives, was born. On her 18th birthday, British Airways gave Shona two roundtrip tickets to the destination of her choice.
Nationality of the Baby
A child’s citizenship is not always clear if he or she is born on an international flight, and the rules vary by country. There are a number of nations, including Canada and the United States, that have laws stating children born to parents of citizens have the same nationality rights.
- Some countries claim citizenship is determined by the registry of the airplane, no matter where you are in the world.
- In other circumstances, the airspace the plane is flying in during the time of birth is the determining factor.
- The United States has a very generous policy; any baby born over American airspace, no matter the nationality of parents or registry of the airplane, is given U.S. Citizenship.
Can Pregnant Women Be Barred From Flying?
Most doctors recommend women who are more than 36 weeks pregnant not fly. However, every pregnancy is different, and a physician may give a patient approval to fly after that time. The airlines ultimately have very little control over pregnant women who choose to fly, and the system is largely based on honesty. One would think the thought of giving birth at 30,000 feet would be enough of a deterrent.
Few women can claim they gave birth on an airplane, but those who have certainly have quite a story to share.
