A heartwarming (for some) story entitled "Happiness Times Five" appeared in the Washington Post earlier this month. It tells how a heavily pregnant lady called Adwai Malual, from the popular tourist spot Sudan, flew to America to seek her Mother-in-Law's blessing for her pregnancy (yup! that's her story). However, once in America, she felt unwell, was rushed to hospital, and out popped five new automatic American citizens.How very opportune!! Just think, if she hadn't happened to be visiting America, seeking mum in law's okay for getting knocked up, when she had her quintuplets, the poor little mites would have been Sudanese citizens rather than automatically Americans.
It appears there may be some issues of the bill, given that the happy mother does not have insurance, but the hospital is making various noises which suggest that they will "sort something out", and in any event, it is more than made up for by the fact that the family now have five little anchors in the land of the free.
Interestingly, if there hadn't been five babies, the story would not have made the news, so we will never know how many other world travelling mothers are in the same lucky situation. Reluctant as I am to paraphrase the ghastly Michael Howard, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Of course, we should not forget that had Mrs Malual, been visiting relatives in Andover, Basingstoke or indeed Tower Hamlets, rather than Annapolis when her contractions started, exactly the same situation would have applied, and there would be five new British citizens anchoring their large and extended Sudanese families to our welfare state.
Naturally, given how desperate that authorities are to hide such information, there are no figures as to how many bulging foreign ladies arrive at Heathrow, grimly crossing their legs and clutching a guide to nearby maternity wards. However, is it just me who suspects they are not what you might call rarities?!!
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By Sarah Maid of Albion
Heard all about it on a Donal Macintyre expose on Health Tourism, think it was May 5 but could be wrong. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7379891.stm
ReplyDeleteIt's upto airlines to make sure passengers don't travel when they are in the latter stages of pregnancy. But clearly they don't bother.
Of course, I referred to "bulging" ladies for the sake of humour. I am sure that many buy their tickets and fly over as goon as pregnancy is diagnosed,
ReplyDeleteThat way the airlines wouldn't know.
Depressing.
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't mind, but I have posted the story and link on the Skadi forum.
Quads refers to four kids not five.
ReplyDeleteOOPS! You are correct she had quintuplets
ReplyDeleteI will correct the article.
http://www.africancrisis.co.za/Article.php?ID=40516&
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nc-f.org/
ReplyDeleteIs there no end to the madness???
ReplyDeleteI believe that most people know exactly what's going on with health tourism among all the other sh*t going on in this country.
ReplyDeleteHere in Thurrock I leaflet at least once a week and our organiser is out twice or three times a week, what we have found is the sheep people choose to ignore what's going on around them because they don't want to put themselves out and disrupt their lives until a enricher has a farm full of animals living next door ( or here in tilbury its scrap cars) getting the halal treatment as highlighted on The Silence of the Lambs thread on this blog, then it affects them and some wake up.
PS. Any tips on how to get through to these sheep people to pre-empt the halal farm (or scrap cars) moving next door will be gratefully received.