Childbirth in Italy

Silverdragon102, BSN · Dec 3, 2006

may be a silly question but where do you live now and what is your status ie citizen permanent resident. There may be issues of health care in Italy and can the baby not get italian dual rights if dad is Italian. The reason I ask as children of British parents if born abroad can get British citizenship if they meet the criteria

suzanne4, RN · Dec 4, 2006

One other issue to consider is that your insurance in the US may not cover the delivery, and you would need to pay for it out of pocket.

Also, most airlines will not let you travel just before the expected due date, so you would need to be there for a couple of months on average.

Is your husband Italian by heritage or born and raised in Italy? That would be a major consideration as to whether a child could get dual citizenship, such as does your husband use an American passport, or Italian?

Best bet would be to check directly with the Italian Consulate/Embassy in the US.

BSNtobe2009 · Dec 4, 2006

I have also heard the USA doesn't recognize dual citizenship past the age of 18 years, and they stopped that practice years ago.

Not to be pessimistic, but there are legal reasons why I wouldn't do it in case you two ever split up. I hate to say that, but it's something you have to consider.

Jo Dirt · Dec 4, 2006

I have also heard the USA doesn't recognize dual citizenship past the age of 18 years, and they stopped that practice years ago.
Not to be pessimistic, but there are legal reasons why I wouldn't do it in case you two ever split up. I hate to say that, but it's something you have to consider.

Be pessimistic all you want. I'm feeling pessimistic, too. He's 50, I'm 32, we've been together 12 years (even though we don't really like each other or even get along very well..I'm a nice person, he isn't ), we have three munchkins already. I don't figure we will split up but you never know...

He's not native Italian, he's a native New Yorker! Both sets of his grandparents came from Italy, but he's never been there. His parents speak Italian but he doesn't.

But he has this bright idea of returning to his roots, and making the baby "privledged" by being a dual citizen. I'm sure it isn't as easy as he thinks it is. I just don't know where to go to find out. He is known for getting these wild hairs and no matter what the trouble, "little Stevie" always seems to get his way.

tntrn, ASN, RN · Dec 4, 2006

My DH is a senior pilot for an international airline and there are no restrictions for pregnant passengers, unless you're obviously already in labor. Flight attendants and even pilots fly well into their pregnancies if there are no complications. You might want to have your doctor's blessing in writing but there are no restrictions that I know of.

augigi, CNS · Dec 4, 2006

Incorrect on the dual citizenship - my (Australian) boss's children were both born in the US while he was working there, and are dual citizens. My other boss is also a dual US/Australian citizen.

Try checking the USCIS website. Would also have to find out if baby even qualifies for Italian citizenship. I know in Australia, babies born to non-citizen parents (even permanent residents) are not given citizenship automatically.

Beyond that, if your hubby is "less than supportive", wouldn't you want some of your family/friends around for support rather than being stuck in a foreign country? My company recently had to translate all our training documents in Italian, so I know not every speaks English.

BSNtobe2009 · Dec 4, 2006

Be pessimistic all you want. I'm feeling pessimistic, too. He's 50, I'm 32, we've been together 12 years (even though we don't really like each other or even get along very well..I'm a nice person, he isn't ), we have three munchkins already. I don't figure we will split up but you never know...
He's not native Italian, he's a native New Yorker! Both sets of his grandparents came from Italy, but he's never been there. His parents speak Italian but he doesn't.
But he has this bright idea of returning to his roots, and making the baby "privledged" by being a dual citizen. I'm sure it isn't as easy as he thinks it is. I just don't know where to go to find out. He is known for getting these wild hairs and no matter what the trouble, "little Stevie" always seems to get his way.

Ok, if he is native born, that was my main concern, if he was native Italian and you had your baby over there.

Considering he has never been over there, I most definitely wouldn't do it. It's just going to cause you a paperwork headache to bring the baby back over to the United States and that will be compounded by the fact that you'll be dealing with a system that neither one of you are familiar with and that may even delay your ability to bring the child over b/c they won't have a US passport!

I don't think dual-citizenship offers any advantages unless you are well-aquainted with the family overseas. Think about how hard it will be to replace a foreign birth certificate if he or she ever needs to if it gets gone. He or she can never run for President! You never know who your child will grow up to be!

Giving birth alone is a high-stress task....I wouldn't compound it, but ultimately, that is a decision for you and your husband to make.

augigi, CNS · Dec 5, 2006

You have to be born in the US to be the president? I thought you just had to be a citizen... how does that work with a multicultural society?

BSNtobe2009 · Dec 5, 2006

You have to be born in the US to be the president? I thought you just had to be a citizen... how does that work with a multicultural society?

Yes, you have to be a NATURAL BORN citizen to be President in the United States. Natural Born doesn't necessarily mean you were born physically in the USA...you just had to be a US Citizen at birth. Arnold Schwartznegger is trying to get a Consitutional Amendment that would allow a naturalized citizen to run for President.

I believe that is also true for certain positions of national security.

The reason the founding fathers had this rule is so you never had to worry about a President having a personal issue with an alliance to another country.

Can you imagine us having a President, that let's say, was a native Canadian, and then us having a war with Canada....how confident would you be that a Commander-in-Chief would be making decisions based on what is right for our country? I wouldn't.

I believe in appreciating your culture (neither one of my own parents were from the USA), but when I see people in the USA carrying foreign flags during demonstrations and BASHING the USA in the process...I think they should exercise another right the USA gives them...the right to leave and go back home. If things were so great in their own country, they wouldn't be here...so I say...don't come here and bash my country and damand "rights" that you couldn't get back home...isn't that the entire reason you are here? My parents and my grandparents all felt the same way...either you came here to be an American or you didn't.

That's not a USA thing...If I decided to move and be a citizen to France, or Germany, or Austrailia, etc. I think they would have every right to expect the same thing from me.

Part of taking the oath when you become a US Citizen is you FORMALLY RENOUNCE your previous alliance to your former country.

Tanvi Tusti · Dec 5, 2006

I must say I find that rather insulting.I dont necessarily think that people go to America to "be an American" as you say. There are many reasons why people go there. People may have been born there, lived there all their life yet have parents that are not American and so will have a natural affiliation for their heritage. Are you saying that these people dont have the right to have their opinions be heard in what is supposed to be a democratic country, just because they dont happen to have ancestry from that said country?

My husband is American, so are his parents, grandparents and beyond. I have no desire whatsoever to "become" American, I am English and always will be, it just so happens that I fell in love with someone who wasn't, does that mean then, that I can't come to America and be critical of anything there, dont I have the right? That sounds pretty much like a dictatorship to me and not a democracy.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 5, 2006

I can speak to the dual citzenship thingie for Japan (1980) and Spain (1985). Hubby and I are both US citizens (born here). However, we were active duty military overseas when we had our children. First son, born in 1980 in Japan was offered dual citizenship but we turned it down because he would have then been eligible for the draft in Japan at the age of 18. In Spain, in 1985, our second son was born - dual citizenship was not even an issue since both parents were US citizens.

Personally, I wouldn't have my child overseas - it was very, very different from what I was used to and the language barrier during pregnancy, labor and delivery adds stress that isn't needed.

As to if my kids could be president of the USA - nope - they were born overseas and in order to be President, they must be natural-born US citizens:

"An understanding of the nation is essential for the role of President. The framers of the Constitution strongly believed that a person must be born in the United States in order to fully understand the country."

A.P.E. - The Presidential Requirements

Hope this helps.