Pregnant in Shenzhen

C

Caligirl

New member
Hello:

I've read all previous threads regarding pregnancy and childbirth in HK... but would anyone advise to having the baby in mainland China??

I will be relocating to Shenzhen and am concerned about the legalities of visas and passport issuance if I have the baby in HK? How long will it take before I can head back to Shenzhen after the baby is born?

Does anyone know of an expat that opted to have their baby in mainland China??

Does anyone have SOS intl insurance? Would this apply to covering prenancy and childbirth costs in HK?

Any advice would be helpful..

Thank you in Advance..
 
Hi Caligirl

I cannot really help but I am writing since I have recently moved to Shenzhen with my 8 month boy. I gave birth to him in HK and at the time there was no plan to move to SZ. Anyway, I am too new myself to give you any advice about the facilities in SZ but on a few occasions I had to take my son back to HK to go to the doc since all his records from birth are with the HK doctors.

If I find any info that may be of help to you I will pass it on.
 
Hi Caligirl,

First of all congrats on your pregnancy. :congrats:

I am a Hong Kong Resident but I spend about 20 days in a month in mainland China - so yes, I practically live there. I have had two pregnancies so far. The first one ended in a miscarriage at about 8 weeks and the second, ah well... I now have a 10-month old baby boy. :dance:

Frankly, I do not really trust Chinese Hospitals, especially after the bad experience I had with my miscarriage. Besides, I found it really difficult to make myself understood, despite having an expat friend who speaks fluent Mandarin (Medical jargon is a different ball game altogether). I did make a phone call to SOS to enquire about the antenatal facilities available at their clinic in SZ and they told me I would have to go to HK for that.

It takes almost three hours to get to HK from where I live. Yet, I preferred to brave the journey and make the trek to HK for my antenatal care - First trimester with an ob-gyn in private practice at Central and Second Trimester at Tsan Yuk Hospital. I was happy with the antenatal care I received in HK - except for the fact that I had one (ultrasound) scan too many!

None of the expats that I know have had their babies in the mainland - except for those up north in Shanghai and Beijing (where I understand the hospitals are better and there are a few western-trained docs).

As you may be aware, travel time between SZ and HK should be around 1 hour. How soon you can travel back to SZ after the delivery depends on what kind of a delivery you have (vaginal/C-section) and how long your hospital stay will be. I am not sure but I think it is possible for non-residents to have their babies in HK, even in the Govt. hospitals - the charges may be quite steep, though.

Hope this helps and :gl:
 
What nationality/ies are the parents? If one is a Chinese citizen, have the baby in HK, otherwise you asking for all kinds of bureaucratic mess. Babies born in HK of Chinese citizen parents (either or both, from anywhere in China) are HK Chinese Citizens automatically: that means they get the blue passport.
However, 2 weeks after the baby's birth, you can get the birth certificate, for which you need both parents IDs and passports (except for PIC holders). The birth certificate is what enables you to get the baby's passport(s). HK passport holders also need to get the Home Return Permit to travel to China. This is available from China Travel and requires a HK Passport as proof of citizenship.
If born in mainland China, the child of a Chinese parent is Chinese, and you'll have trouble travelling because you have to use 2 passports all the time and hide the fact from the Chinese government (I assume we're talking about a mixed family here) unless you want the child to lose their Chinese citizenship and have to get visas all the time.

If both parents are non-Chinese nationals, then the child will usually get the citizenship(s) of the parents unless the parents were citizens by descent. However, children of non-Chinese HKPRs born in HK are also HK Permanent Residents until age 21.

Non HKPR parents will have to get a HK visa for their children once passports are issued. A similar situation prevails in the Mainland.
 
I don't know if this post is still valid (ie baby already out!) but here is my 5 cents worth. We live in Shenzhen, my wife is a PRC Chinese and long story short we checked all around the place and finally decided for the better to undergo all our checks and final delivery in HK. After the delivery my wife was very happy with the fact that I pushed soooo hard to have our little guy delivered in HK (Sep 05). Wife and I were both in HK on tourist visa's (although I had her visa extended by 30 days whilst in HK), our baby was born in a private hospital which gives you a boost up in the eyes of the authorities (ie, paying your way). His birth cert was issued in less than a day, HKG re-entry permit (double) issued same day. China 3yr permit took a week. We were back home in China 6 days after delivery (C). The little one (well,,, he used to be little!) had his Kiwi passport in 7 days and we will be doing his HKG PIC etc etc later when we have a chance.
With a bit of luck and a lot of research and preparation it isn't too traumatic to do it all in HK. If your other half is Chinese then you are doing your baby-to-be a once in a lifetime chance to get HKG ROA, also.... ever been inside the average mainland hospital........
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top