Chinese surrogacy boom in America raises novel birthright citizenship questions
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
President Donald Trump’s effort to rein in what he views as abuse of the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision could be hamstrung by the surrogacy industry and its growing Chinese customer base, experts told the Washington Examiner.
Wealthy Chinese families and individuals are increasingly turning to the U.S.’s booming surrogacy sector to have their biological babies born on U.S. soil — often, without the parents themselves setting foot in the country. Foreigners, the plurality of whom are Chinese, initiated nearly 5,000 pregnancies this way during 2020 alone, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that, in some cases, individual Chinese nationals have sought to commission over 100 children spread across dozens of surrogate mothers.
Because the women who are paid to bear Chinese babies give birth in the United States, the children born through this expensive and controversial practice are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under current law.
Shortly after taking office for the second time, Trump issued an executive order mandating that children with mothers who were in the country either illegally or legally on a temporary visa at the time of their birth be denied citizenship unless their father is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The constitutionality of that executive order is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling.
But the growth in Chinese nationals who are relying on American surrogates raises thorny questions about birthright citizenship, national security, medical ethics, and who exactly, in a foreign surrogacy situation, is a child’s “progenitor” under the law.
“America has everything. America is a good country — as long as you know what you want,” one Chinese birth tourism agent based in California, where a bustling surrogacy industry serving people from China has cropped up, told NPR in 2022. “Having children in the U.S. will always bring advantages, because America is a country for immigrants.”
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., questions John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Among these advantages are U.S. citizenship, …
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
President Donald Trump’s effort to rein in what he views as abuse of the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision could be hamstrung by the surrogacy industry and its growing Chinese customer base, experts told the Washington Examiner.
Wealthy Chinese families and individuals are increasingly turning to the U.S.’s booming surrogacy sector to have their biological babies born on U.S. soil — often, without the parents themselves setting foot in the country. Foreigners, the plurality of whom are Chinese, initiated nearly 5,000 pregnancies this way during 2020 alone, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that, in some cases, individual Chinese nationals have sought to commission over 100 children spread across dozens of surrogate mothers.
Because the women who are paid to bear Chinese babies give birth in the United States, the children born through this expensive and controversial practice are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under current law.
Shortly after taking office for the second time, Trump issued an executive order mandating that children with mothers who were in the country either illegally or legally on a temporary visa at the time of their birth be denied citizenship unless their father is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The constitutionality of that executive order is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling.
But the growth in Chinese nationals who are relying on American surrogates raises thorny questions about birthright citizenship, national security, medical ethics, and who exactly, in a foreign surrogacy situation, is a child’s “progenitor” under the law.
“America has everything. America is a good country — as long as you know what you want,” one Chinese birth tourism agent based in California, where a bustling surrogacy industry serving people from China has cropped up, told NPR in 2022. “Having children in the U.S. will always bring advantages, because America is a country for immigrants.”
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., questions John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Among these advantages are U.S. citizenship, …
Chinese surrogacy boom in America raises novel birthright citizenship questions
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
President Donald Trump’s effort to rein in what he views as abuse of the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision could be hamstrung by the surrogacy industry and its growing Chinese customer base, experts told the Washington Examiner.
Wealthy Chinese families and individuals are increasingly turning to the U.S.’s booming surrogacy sector to have their biological babies born on U.S. soil — often, without the parents themselves setting foot in the country. Foreigners, the plurality of whom are Chinese, initiated nearly 5,000 pregnancies this way during 2020 alone, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation found that, in some cases, individual Chinese nationals have sought to commission over 100 children spread across dozens of surrogate mothers.
Because the women who are paid to bear Chinese babies give birth in the United States, the children born through this expensive and controversial practice are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under current law.
Shortly after taking office for the second time, Trump issued an executive order mandating that children with mothers who were in the country either illegally or legally on a temporary visa at the time of their birth be denied citizenship unless their father is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The constitutionality of that executive order is currently awaiting a Supreme Court ruling.
But the growth in Chinese nationals who are relying on American surrogates raises thorny questions about birthright citizenship, national security, medical ethics, and who exactly, in a foreign surrogacy situation, is a child’s “progenitor” under the law.
“America has everything. America is a good country — as long as you know what you want,” one Chinese birth tourism agent based in California, where a bustling surrogacy industry serving people from China has cropped up, told NPR in 2022. “Having children in the U.S. will always bring advantages, because America is a country for immigrants.”
Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., questions John Ratcliffe, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Among these advantages are U.S. citizenship, …
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