rkp said:
SoCal said:
Irvinehomeshopper was right. (Again.)
The baby business must be booming in Irvine.
I just returned from a doctor's appointment at the 16300 building of Hoag Hospital on Sand Canyon in Irvine this evening. My doctor, an endocrinologist, shares an office with an OBGYN. When I pushed the door open, the waiting room was PACKED with pregnant Chinese women. More people than seats. They all seemed to be very familiar with each other and it seems they all arrived together as one big group. After taking one look at them and them at me, I took one step back, shut the door, and read the sign again to myself slowly to make sure I had the proper suite. Blink. Blink. Yup. Right one. Take 2, try again. The first thought I had was a flashback to a post IHS made a while ago about the well-oiled Anchor Baby machine in this area. It must be seen to be believed. And it was.
How did you know they were all Chinese? And outside of them making small talk, why do you believe they came together? And most importantly, why do you believe they are foreigners who are here solely to have a baby?
Well, they weren't speaking German. LOL. They were speaking with the staff in their (the staff & patients') native language. I'll give you the names so you can determine the nationality. Either Chinese or Taiwanese. I can't tell the difference but I know it is one or the other. My doctor, Y*an L*eun*g speaks Chinese and graduated from a university in Taiwan. The OB he shares the small office with also speaks Chinese and also went to university in Taiwan. They list Chinese as their first language on health websites. The O.B. is Dr. J*ame*s T. Y*an*g.
You can't fit a dozen people into 1 time slot or 2 time slots or even 3 time slots. They would have had to arrive as a group. I wouldn't describe it as casual small-talk. I don't speak Chinese but I speak Body Language. They were horsing around with each other. You don't do that with somebody you just met five minutes ago.
I mentioned the group to the front desk woman who is also my doctor's wife. I said -- Wow, the baby business is big. She was like - Oh, you know about this? I said yeah. She said yeah, it's a big part of the other doctor's business. Apparently it is confusing the heck out of other patients. One of them took one look, walked out, and called the front desk from the hallway for reassurance they were in the right place.
This office is affiliated with Hoag hospital, which is also mentioned specifically by name in this Chinese ad for a maternity hotel posted by Javacly last year:
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php/topic,3954.msg60841.html#msg60841
Birth tourism is not a myth, as Zubs pointed out above. Here's a thread where IHS mentioned it in 2011:
http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php?topic=1811.15
"Women pay big to have babies born in the U.S. USA Baby Care?s website makes no attempt to hide why the company?s clients travel to Southern California from China and Taiwan. It?s to give birth to an American baby."
http://theadvocate.com/home/4885740-125/women-pay-big-to-have
L.A. Times: Chinese want an American newborn
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/03/local/la-me-birthing-centers-20130104
Complaints of Birth Tourism Spike in L.A. County:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/birth-tourism-complaints-spike-los-angeles-county/story?id=18337755
Cracking down on illegal operations:
http://ktla.com/2013/02/05/task-force-formed-to-investigate-maternity-hotels/
USA Baby Care.com:
http://www.usababycare.com/contact.html
^ Local pics