A woman flying six weeks before the due date of her pregnancy gave birth on an American Airlines flight to the Dominican Republic. American Airlines allows travel up until the fourth week prior to a due date without a doctor’s letter.
The woman’s water broke inflight and then mere minutes later her baby was born. She named her son “Skylen” because he was born in the sky. His birth certificate will reflect his actual place of birth, too. At the end of Up In The Air, George Clooney may tell Sam Elliott, as the chief pilot of American Airlines, that he’s “from here” when he hits 10 million miles inflight. But Skylen really will be considered as being from up in the air. A child of a U.S. citizen, Skylen will be one as well.
The mother’s sister was traveling with her and shared the experience on TikTok, tagging it “this is how my vacation is going.”
@pinkangel876 this is how my vacation is going #baby #babylove #boymom #family #vacation #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #dominicanrepublic ♬ Last Last – Burna Boy
According to American Airlines,
Upon landing, the customer was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. We thank our team members and medical professionals on board for their professionalism and quick action.
The mother and her son stayed in the Dominican Republic for “a few weeks” though with a doctor’s note allows for travel within the first week after birth.
Pretty neat story. I found a bit more on this topic on the Verify website:
According to the Foreign Affairs Manual, “All children born in and subject, at the time of birth, to the jurisdiction of the United States acquire U.S. Citizenship.”
The manual states that some locations, other than actual U.S. soil, may qualify as U.S. jurisdiction for citizenship purposes. One example is a ship on U.S. “internal waters,” including a port, harbor, or bay. Birth on a ship within the U.S. “territorial sea” or on a plane over U.S. land or its “territorial sea” appears to be murkier but could potentially also qualify a child for citizenship.
According to the manual, the “territorial sea” includes the waters within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coastline.
There are some exceptions.
For example, the manual states that those born on a foreign military craft, even within the boundaries stated above, would not qualify for U.S. citizenship. Meantime, those born outside the boundaries, for example, on a military base abroad — which does not count as U.S. jurisdiction for citizenship purposes — could still be U.S. citizens with one or both parents being U.S. citizens, according to the U.S. Code of Law.
The Foreign Affairs Manual states that for births midflight, U.S. Customs and Border Protection would need documentation of the birth upon landing, likely including a captain’s log with the time, latitude, and longitude of the birth.
The parent would then have to report the birth to civil authorities in the U.S. jurisdiction where they landed or were put into port.
Maybe he will grow up and become a pilot for AA.
@drrichard While it may be possible to rely on the latitude/longitude of the flight at the time of birth if over the US or territorial waters, it will almost certainly be substantially easier to claim citizenship through blood. In case you were wondering, for this the mother would only need the local birth certificate, passport, and proof of US residence (for a varying period depending on the father).
Probably should not have flown after 32 weeks!!