My Thai girlfriend is having my Thai baby

This is a wonderful experience for any relationship and should be cherished forever, but when it comes down to your Thai girlfriend giving birth to your child in Thailand this opens the door to a barrage of questions. As the father you are in a foreign country and the system is completely different to what you are used to in Australia

It is important is to find the best hospital that will cover the antenatal care and follow through with the birth of your child with the care from the same doctor. There are two types of hospitals in Thailand, the first is the Government run hospital and the second is the private run hospital.

Choosing the correct hospital depends on your finances but in most cases if you want your Thai girlfriend and your Thai child to have the best care then choose a private run hospital. The main reasons are the private hospitals have more nurses per patient, more doctors and the most upto date medical technology..

When you’re pregnant Thai girlfriend attends a private hospital she will be assigned to a doctor who will take care of the antenatal appointments and even in most cases deliver your Thai baby. The private hospital are very structured in planning the appointments and taking care of your Thai girlfriend and the baby during the pregnancy.

You obviously have to pay greater fees at any private hospital but it makes going to the hospital a pleasant experience and not queuing with 300 other people like you have in the UK. The back up service is very good and most of the hospitals will give advice on nutrition for your Thai girlfriend and your new thai baby

In most cases your girlfriend will be given an ultra sound scan every time you have an antenatal appointment but this is mainly to get some extra fees “but for the small amount of money it is good to see your baby progressing” so enjoy this experience every time.

When your Thai girlfriend is ready to give birth the doctor will decide if a Cesarean or a natural birth is better because most Thais are very small and would have problems with a natural birth. Take the doctors advice as they have the babies best interest at heart, your Thai girlfriend will not like the small scar but it is the baby that is important.

After the baby is born you girlfriend will normally spend 2 days in hospital and in this time they will give you the Thai birth certificate. This is when the fun and games start” because they have to put your English name in Thai on the birth certificate and 99% of the time it is spelt wrong so my advice is to go to a translation office to find out how your name should be written in Thai so you have pre-emptied a situation that could cause problems in the future.

When you leave the hospital with your family and the Thai birth certificate it is advisable to take the certificate and get it translated into English and get it certified.
Not known by many foreigners you have to go to your partners local town hall within 15 days of the birth to register the baby otherwise you can envisage problems. In the UK we would go to the registry office also to register the babies birth so it is similar in Thailand.

In Thailand all households and families have what we call a Tabien baan which in English is a household book which is a flimsy blue book and this has all the family members listed in the book and your Thai girlfriend will have your Thai baby entered in the Household book at the same time as registering the baby which keeps everything legal.

So once everything is clear you may then be considering obtaining an Australian Passport for your Thai baby who is also eligible for a Thai passport giving the child dual nationality. Obtaining an Australian passport for your baby can be complicated and is all about documentation and having the babies photographs countersigned.