Chinese Parenting

Forget push presents; what wealthy pregnant women from around the world really want postchildbirth is US citizenship for their lil one. Hence the rise and booming popularity of birth tourism — where foreign women with substantial financial means come to the US to have their babies. The US is the only developed country, other than Canada, that grants jus soli, or birthright citizenship to any individual born here. Like parents everywhere, these women want the best for their children: for them, that means access to American schools, universities, and jobs.

Expectant mothers generally enter the country on a tourist or business visa — it's illegal to refuse entry to a woman on the sole grounds that she's pregnant — a few months before her due date. Once here, she needs somewhere to stay and help navigating the system. This is where the industry comes in: from the southern coast of California to the suburbs of New York City and everywhere in between, Americans are catering to this specific group of women, setting up birth tourism centers where women can rent rooms and receive help obtaining their babies' passports and social security numbers.

Birth tourism isn't a new idea — it's been going on for decades — but a recent move by Congress, which if passed will put up significant roadblocks for women hoping to deliver on US soil, has brought the topic to the forefront of the immigration debate.

What do you think about birth tourism? Should it be illegal?

Last night in progressive San Francisco, author Amy Chua read and accepted questions (even a compliment) during a lively and candid appearance at Booksmith. The mother caused quite a stir when a portion of her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, was excerpted in the Wall Street Journal. Here are some of the event's highlights:

• Chua's daughter Lulu suggested these alternate titles for the book. "The Perfect Child and the Flesh Eating Devil" and "Why Oldest Children Are Better."
• The memoir was born after a terrible blowup Chua had with Lulu. The author wrote "practically the whole book in two months."
• "I showed every page I wrote to both my daughters and my husband. It was basically like family therapy. It was a cathartic process." — Chua on how her family feels about the book.
• "No. I did not write or know the headline and I do not believe that Chinese parenting is superior." — Chua on the title of the WSJ excerpt.
• When Lulu refused to try Russian caviar, Chua called her "an uncultured savage."
• When asked if she would write a "mommy book, part two," Chua replied, "Definitely not!"
• "This book — and this is the important part, this is the story of our family's journey and my own transformation as a mother. It's a memoir. It is not a how-to-book." — Chua on clarifying the type of text she wrote.