Birth Tourism Mastermind Pleads The Fifth, Dismissed From Congressional Hearing
The doctor behind a Miami company that markets services to foreign nationals seeking to give birth in the United States was subpoenaed to testify before Congress Tuesday. He invoked the Fifth Amendment 11 times, answered none of the committee’s substantive questions, and was promptly dismissed from the hearing.
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Dr. Wladimir Lorentz, founder and chief medical officer of Miami Medical Concierge Services, also known as “Have My Baby in Miami,” initially refused to voluntarily appear before the House Oversight Committee’s Task Force on Defending Constitutional Rights and Exposing Institutional Abuses. Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) responded by subpoenaing Lorentz on August 26 to appear at Tuesday’s hearing, titled “Protecting American Citizenship: Confronting Birth Tourism.”
But Lorentz’s testimony lasted only a few minutes. In his opening statement, Lorentz said he was appearing in response to the subpoena and, on the advice of his attorney, would decline to answer questions related to a pending federal investigation. “I will respectfully decline to answer any questions touching the subject matter of a pending federal investigation on the grounds that a truthful answer may tend to incriminate me, and I invoke my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” Lorentz said.
Lorentz invoked the Fifth in response to every substantive question brought by Task Force Chairman Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), including questions about whether Have My Baby in Miami facilitated the entry of foreign nationals seeking to give birth and obtain U.S. citizenship for their children, how many foreign nationals had used the service, and whether the company had assisted members of the Chinese Communist Party or foreign criminal organizations.
Gill also confronted Lorentz with the company’s former website, which advertised its services to prospective international clients. The website claimed that Have My Baby in Miami had facilitated more than 2,000 deliveries involving international patients. It offered prospective customers assistance with travel preparation, medical care, housing, health insurance, and obtaining documentation for their newborns before returning to their home countries.
After Lorentz declined to answer a series of questions, Gill asked whether he intended to invoke the Fifth in response to every question posed by the committee. Lorentz answered by pleading the Fifth. “All right. Let the record reflect that Dr. Lorentz has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to all questions posed to him today,” Gill said. “Considering your invocation to the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination pursuant to the terms of the subpoena issued for your appearance at this hearing, I have no choice but to excuse you from the witness panel,” Gill continued. “You’re hereby excused from the witness panel, and we will continue the hearing.”
In the United States, birth tourism has developed into a cottage industry of concierge companies and other businesses that assist expectant mothers with everything from travel and lodging to medical care and obtaining their newborns’ U.S. documentation. Have My Baby in Miami has publicly marketed itself as one such service. Its website previously told prospective customers that “the dream of having a child in the United States is closer to reality than you ever imagined.”
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The company’s website provided a step-by-step guide for international clients covering their trip to the United States, arrival, delivery, the birth itself, preparation for returning home, and the process of obtaining documentation for the newborn. The practice also featured testimonials from parents in countries including Brazil and Colombia who described their experiences of traveling to Miami to give birth.
The Oversight Committee’s investigation is focused not only on the legal status of birthright citizenship but on the businesses profiting from birth tourism. In May, the committee sent Lorentz a letter seeking documents and information concerning Have My Baby in Miami’s marketing, advertising, service agreements, and medical tourism packages. The committee also contacted another company, International Maternity Services, as part of its investigation.
When announcing Tuesday’s hearing, Gill said that the task force would examine the prevalence of birth tourism schemes, the companies profiting from them, and the national security implications of the industry, particularly given the number of birth tourists traveling from countries such as China and Russia. “Birth tourism should appall every American citizen,” Gill said last month. “It subverts the rule of law, cheapens American citizenship, and undermines our sovereignty as a nation.”
“Dr. Lorentz originally refused to testify before our committee. So, we sent him a subpoena,” Gill wrote Monday. “Tomorrow, he will be forced to answer questions about the birth tourism industry’s blatant disregard of our nation’s sovereignty.”
Instead, Lorentz appeared before Congress and unfortunately left without answering a single substantive question about his business.
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