Queens stabbing leads to 'birth tourism' probe

A 52-year-old female employee of a Queens maternity center who was accused of stabbing three babies and two adults on Friday morning was charged with five counts of attempted murder, while the center itself is suspected of being used for so-called "birth tourism," according to police officials.

The suspect, Wang Yu Fen, is in police custody at New York-Presbyterian/Queens and her motive hasn't been determined as of Saturday.

Wang cut her own wrist after injuring five people. All people hurt are in stable condition and expected to recover.

According to ABC News, a local assemblyman said it was likely Wang had mental health issues.

The maternity center where Wang worked, Mei Xin Care Inc, which was hosting nine babies and multiple parents when the incident took place, was initially described as a daycare center.

While it is a licensed domestic business corporation registered by name in April 2016, according to the New York Department of State's dataset, it is not licensed as a day care center, according to New York's Office of Children and Family Services.

It advertised itself as a registered maternity facility with more than a decade of operation on a Chinese online forum, where it is said to provide professional, 24-hour care to infants by hiring highly professional nurses.

The advertisement also says that the birthing center has two locations in Flushing, both "brand new, luxury residences in convenient locations with abundant support facilities."

Law enforcement officials suspect that the residence was used for so-called "birth tourism," a practice of foreign women traveling to the United States on tourist visas and giving birth to their children in America in order to secure American citizenship for the children, according to New York Times.

The website of Shu An Confinement Home Inc, another maternity center in Flushing, lists the services it provides, including accommodating mothers before and after they give birth, getting them to hospitals for necessary medical examinations and childbirth, providing meals and taking care of mothers and babies during their stay, and helping out with all the paperwork.

It also offers guidance for Chinese mothers who look to give birth in the States, suggesting they get to America around four months before the due date and stay in the country for a month after giving birth. They can thus finish the whole process within the six-month window of tourist visas before returning home with their newborns.

The practice is especially prevalent in California. In March 2015 and January 2018, federal agents in California launched two operations and investigations targeting "maternity hotels," affecting more than 50 facilities.

The stay at a center costs around $5,000, according to a Chinese-American mother, a lawful US citizen, who declined to give her name and who stayed at Shu An three years ago.

"Like many other parents I met, I chose to spend that one month in the care center because I was so inexperienced as a new mother, my husband was too busy working, and our parents were in China and were not able to come and help us out," she said.

"But the service we got was not worth the price," she said, questioning the professionalism of the employees in the center.

The Mei Xin center is still under investigation.