Baby Born on a Plane

Posted by Kelby Carr Sep 27, 2006

The woman, Egyptian, was flying from London to Boston. When the airplane crew realized she was in labor, they diverted to land in Nova Scotia. They didn't land in time, and she delivered while in the air.

So, already there are four nations involved: Egypt, England, U.S. and Canada. So where was this baby born?

Howstuffworks has a fascinating examination of this issue of birthplace and citizenship in this situation. Did you realize that if you give birth in flight, the U.N. has actually already addressed this precise dilemma.

According to U.N. rules, the birthplace would actually be born in the airplane's registered country. That could be almost anywhere! Citizenship could actually be determined based on whether you are flying into or out of a country.

If you are flying while pregnant, this may be something to investigate first, especially if you are in the last trimester. Don't think it can't happen. British Airways reports about one in-flight birth annually.

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