A sad and strange story out of New Zealand: authorities there are reporting that a pregnant Samoan woman boarded a flight from Apia to Auckland last week and gave birth while on-board the plane. While early rumors suggested that the infant had been found in the airplane lavatory, it's now reported that the newborn was fond in a trash can in the airport in New Zealand's largest city. The baby and mother are both now reported healthy, in the hospital.
How was a heavily pregnant woman allowed to board a plane, in violation of both airline and national regulations? And was the woman, reportedly a member of a group of immigrant workers who regularly arrive from Samoa for seasonal agricultural work, so in need of mone that she couldn't afford to stay home and give birth? Was she seeking the New Zealand citizenship most Samoans are denied (even though the law changed in 2006 and no longer grants citizenship by birth alone)?
We'll probably never know. But let's hope the mother and child are able to recover from this bizarre beginning to their life together.
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