LEGAL ADVOCACY: THE NATIONALITY OF A CHILD BORN MID-AIR, ONBOARD AN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT || By MIRIAM SEMMBER ASTER, Esq.
By: Miriam Seember Atser Esq. INTRODUCTION : It has long been observed that mid-air births are a rarity. The reason for such position is not farfetched as most airlines restrict the travel of heavily pregnant women after 35 weeks of pregnancy due to the risk of delivery in flight. However, it appears the narrative is fast changing as a number of on board flight births have been recorded in recent times. In 2022, the New York Post reported that a pregnant woman who didn’t know she was pregnant gave birth mid- flight (onboard KLM Royal Dutch flight from Ecuador to Spain through Amsterdam, the Netherlands), after she went into the plane’s toilet with a stomach ache but ended up giving birth. In a near similar turn of events, Vanguard reported in June of 2023, that a pregnant woman flying on a Boeing 777, KLM flight, from, Lagos to Amsterdam suddenly went into labour and eventually put to bed mid-air, forcing the airplane to land as a matter of emergency in Spain. This is to mention