Ken Paxton shuts down Houston-area birth tourism center

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the shutdown of the De’Ai Postpartum Care Center, a Houston-area facility accused of operating a “birth tourism” business. The legal action, following a lawsuit filed in April, requires the center to cease all operations and stop facilitating births.

According to state officials, the center primarily marketed its services to Chinese nationals and claimed responsibility for over 1,000 American-born babies. The operation reportedly utilized at least four locations across Sugar Land, Houston, Richmond, and Rosenberg, at times arranging as many as 20 births in a single day.

Investigators alleged that the business coached foreign nationals on how to circumvent immigration restrictions. This included instructing women to apply for visas before becoming pregnant to avoid detection and conceal their primary intent for traveling to the United States. The center reportedly used Chinese-language social media platforms and websites to market its services.