In an interview published last week, Donald Trump reiterated his desire to end automatic rights to US citizenship. This would involve passing an executive order challenging this principle included in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. His aim is to prevent the babies of foreigners or migrants who are born in the US from automatically obtaining US citizenship.
For Australian surrogacy lawyer Stephen Page, this approach would also have consequences for children born through surrogacy. Currently, a baby born in the US to a surrogate mother automatically becomes an American citizen. This promotes commercial surrogacy in the US for rich foreigners, especially the Chinese. However, if Donald Trump signs an executive order, children born through surrogacy in the US will no longer be recognised as American citizens. They will not have citizenship until the country of origin of the intended parents has agreed to give it to them.
Bioedge (3/11/2018)