UK Citizen giving birth in Canada

[Lovecakesandbakes]

Hello, I’m seriously considering giving birth in Canada. I’ll be giving birth as a non-resident as I’m a UK citizen. Does anyone have any experience of this or knows how to go about it? Will I need insurance or a letter from my doctor? Any help will be much appreciated!

Hi, are you currently in Canada?

If you’re not, are you eligible to travel to Canada under the current COVID rules? That might be your first challenge, depending on how long this rumbles on for.

(Also I’m interested to know why Canada, if you’re not living here).

Free medical care eligibility differs by province - look up OHIP eligibility for Ontario for instance.

If you don’t qualify for provincial health coverage I’d imagine you would need insurance, but you’ll need to check carefully that it covers you for pregnancy and what types of costs can be reimbursed. A quick google suggests it’s not cheap without coverage.

I’m currently in the UK and not due till later on this year as it’s early days.

Most of my family have moved to Canada so would love to be surrounded by them. I’m aware I may have to pay if not covered by insurance as I’ve found that insurance doesn’t cover the delivery and may not cover me after 36 weeks.

I’m keen to hear from others who have gone through the process. Keen to know if the medical bill is requested after giving birth or a payment plan is arranged and continued when back in the UK.

I would look at online resources for Canadian immigration and your UK ambassy/consulate over there.
You can contact either of them with questions or concerns and how to plan things properly.
I am a also a foreigner where i am giving birth and that's how i found out most things.

Thank you @SunnySideUp2020. I never thought of looking at the embassy.

What if they needed icu after birth - hopefully they wouldn't but would you be prepared for those costs?

@Toomanycats99 I’ve seen that travel insurance cover any complications after birth and during delivery but not straight forward deliveries.

Were you born in the UK, OP?
Canada doesn't automatically grant citizenship to everyone born there, and if you weren't born in the UK (i.e. you inherited your British citizenship from your parents, or were natiralised as a child / adult) your child could end up stateless.

@Lovecakesandbakes

But travel insurance would usually only cover you until a certain number of weeks before the birth. I'm pretty sure you could not get a policy to cover you over due date.

@MaryMashedThem Yes, my husband and I were both born in the UK and are British. Our child will be British so won’t be stateless

@Toomanycats99. Thank you. I’ve also seen cover for baby’s medical bills after birth (other than the delivery cost) in the event that they’re hospitalised. Some of these do have a waiting period once activated though (often 12 months). I’ll have to do more research.

mary makes a good point op where your child was born affects citizenship which is worth thinking about. Even if you can give your children citizenship it means if they ever move abroad and have a child there the child will not be entitled to citizenship. Maybe not of concern but worth bearing in mind as an expat I've met several couples who are second generation expats and have been forced to pay a lot of money to travel to their country of citizenship to give birth to avoid the complications of a legally stateless child.

@Deepintheforest thanks so much for this. Doesn’t it depend on where the child is born? Babies born in Canada automatically become Canadian citizens. I find it heard to understand how they could ever become stateless in this scenario

It does depend but a lot of countries don't give citizenship just because you are born there particularly in lesser developed countries where a lot of expats are based and also with most expats moving around so often they're never even permanently resident. The country myself and dp are in and will likely stay long term in won't give citizenship through birth place, he is not eligible to pass on his nz citizenship unless the baby is born on nz soil, luckily I can pass on my British (but then the child can't) so you can see how if he was to have a child with someone else who couldn't pass on citizenship the choice is to return home at great expense or to give birth in our resident country and go through the headache of fighting for citizenship

To be clear I'm referring to a situation where your children could have these complications. It probably won't ever happen as who knows what they'll do and who/if theyll have children with but citizenship can get very complicated very quickly so it's worth properly researching and thinking about

When would you be looking to travel? Past a certain point you may need a drs note that you are fit to fly.

Do you need a visa when visiting Canada? It may be an added expense if you do need to stay longer than anticipated.

Passports are another thing to consider.

Would your child be a dual citizen? Is there any draw backs to being a Canadian citizen? ( some countries have national service, I believe American citizens still need to pay taxes in American on earnings abroad )

@Deepintheforest ahh makes sense. That’s a good point and definitely something to consider. Thanks so much for this.

Canada is one of the few countries that grants citizenship to children born there, even if they don’t have a parent with citizenship.

What you will need to check is the status of your child’s UK citizenship should they have children born outside the UK.

My daughter was born to two NZ citizens in the UK, and as I was a permanent resident when she was born she was a UK citizen by birth and a NZ citizen by descent. After 2 years of living back in NZ her citizenship status was upgraded to naturalised status. This had to be done before she was 16.

In practical terms what this means is that she will be able to pass on both her citizenships to her children no matter where they are born.

If I had another child in NZ, they would inherit both my citizenships (I became a UK citizen after she was born), but unless I had a child in the UK, any further children wouldn’t be able to pass on their UK citizenship to their children (my grandchildren) unless they too where born in the UK. If they were born in the UK they would be NZ by descent and would have to reside in NZ for 2 years before they turned 16 in order to pass NZ citizenship on to their children (my grandchildren).

@Thedramasummer I’d be looking to travel when I’m about 33 weeks. I won’t need a visa but an eta for 90 days.

In this case, yes my child would end up being a dual citizen. I haven’t read about any drawbacks to being a Canadian citizen.

Assuming you travel at exactly 33 weeks and then deliver bang on 40 weeks, you'll have used 49 days of your 90 before baby is born. What happens if you go overdue? Are you prepared for a transatlantic flight with a newborn? Would you be able to get a passport for baby before your ETA expires or would you have to leave baby in Canada and leave the country yourself?

These are also points you need to explore.

^this is a good point. If your baby is 14 days late then that's 63 days out of your 90 days. You probably won't get a passport in time for the baby as you'll need to get registration documents etc first (not sure exactly how it works in Canada). Then what if your baby has to stay in hospital, you'd have to leave?
Even the best case scenario baby is born at 40 weeks you'll be travelling home with a newborn baby at prime screaming / cluster feeding age.

Actually it’s a bit more complex than what’s suggested on here regarding automatic citizenship. Doesn’t apply is parent not legally in the country. Doesn’t apply if the child leaves right away. The details are not easy to find online but the info is there.

Continuing from @shouldistop’s theme, you may potentially only have 27 days to get the baby’s passport, before flying home with a very tiny, very hungry, very screamy baby when you might not be in a very good state yourself. You are likely to still be bleeding. If you have a c section, tear/stitches etc sitting down and seatbelts may not be bearable for long periods. But I guess you’ll be exhausted anyway, do jet lag won’t be an issue!!

There's also an increased risk of dvt after having a baby I believe, especially if you have a section.

Oh yes, absolutely! I had to wear compression stockings for 6 weeks after both my CS, and I only travelled a few miles homes by car.

Would it not just be less hassle to have your mum or whoever it is you want to he near, come back to the UK for a couple of weeks to support you?