Probably the last thing on the mind of a pregnant woman so close to giving birth would be to travel to the other side of the world. But not for Chinese mothers who dream of having more than one baby or who seek a new citizenship for their unborn child.

Take the case of one mother, Miao, who wanted to give birth in the U.S. as a way to work around China's one-child policy. Although the Chinese government eased the rules recently, not every couple is allowed to have several children.

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Miao said she had spent almost US$30,000 to give birth to her second child in the U.S. She plans to send her daughter to a school in the U.S., probably as early as grade school.

To spare her the trouble of preparing for her birth, Miao got the services of an agency that found her a leased home in a Los Angeles community popular among pregnant Chinese women.

For Felicia He, 27, she chose to make plans and preparations herself that cost her thousands of dollars, before getting on a jet bound for California. 

She began preparing for the trip in the first three months of her pregnancy. She asked friends who have done it before for a referral to a doctor. She found accommodations for her stay in L.A. and then bought a ticket for her trip.

Many Chinese families want a child with an American citizenship because he or she could be the family's ticket out of China if they could not bear food safety scandals or air pollution anymore.

The wealthy are especially open to leaving their motherland. A survey last year showed nearly two-thirds of Chinese with a net worth of more than CNY10 million ($US1.6 million) have moved out of the country, or are planning to.

The U.S. has welcomed a growing birth tourism industry across the country that services the rising number of clients. In 2012, about 10,000 Chinese women gave birth in the U.S., which is more than a hundred percent spike than the 4,200 four years before.

Both the families of He and Miao have eyed migrating to America, attracted to the lower cost of living. They said housing is way cheaper, especially compared to Beijing, where real estate prices have soared.

TagsChinese mothers, Made in China, American citizenship, pregnant Chinese, One Child Policy