CHINA: Chinese Woman Says Birth Tourism Company 'cheated me'

A wealthy Chinese couple wanted the best for their soon-to-be born baby, so they decided that he should begin life in the United States.

The couple paid a Bellevue company $70,000 for travel arrangements to fly from Beijing to Sea-Tac airport. The money covered lodging for about four months at an upscale home in Newcastle.

"Lucy" asked for anonymity as she described to the KING 5 Investigators her experience with a so-called "birth tourism" company called Fu Hua Enterprises.

Companies like Fu Hua play on many foreigners' desire for U.S. residency. A baby born on U.S. soil is automatically granted citizenship, making it easier for parents to gain long-term visas to stay in the country. The trend has become extremely popular in China, and according to one study, an estimated 40,000 "birth tourists" travel to the United States each year.

"I'm beyond angry. There is nothing I can do," Lucy said in an interview from her home in Beijing nearly two years after her experience with Fu Hua Enterprises.

Corporate records show the Fu Hua is owned by Ming "Jennifer" Sun of Bellevue.

"She just cheated us. Cheated me," Lucy said.

Lucy found the company through its Chinese language website. She says Jennifer Sun instructed her not to reveal that she was pregnant when she applied for a tourist visa and to hide her pregnancy during her trip through customs at Sea-Tac Airport.

"She asked me to wear heavy clothes to cover my pregnancy because it was winter," Lucy said.

Lucy stayed in a lavish home located next to the Newscastle golf course. The KING 5 Investigators learned that Fu Hua operated two "maternity homes" in the same neighborhood. Each could house up to four pregnant women, who typically paid at least $45,000 for a three-month stay. According to former Fu Hua employees who spoke with KING 5, the women paid additional cash to cover their medical expenses at local hospitals like Overlake and Swedish.

Lucy says soon after she arrived at the Newcastle maternity house, Jennifer Sun convinced her she could make money by investing in America.

"During my pregnancy they dragged me all over town to look for houses," Lucy said.

Lucy made her first real estate investment in America by paying $1 million for a home in Sammamish. In addition to a $10,000 "bonus" for finding the house, Lucy says Sun convinced her to pay $15,000 to manage the property once Lucy returned to China.

She says Sun next convinced her to invest $800,000 in a café. The deal ultimately fell through, but Lucy says she lost $35,000 in earnest money.

Lucy says she came to realize that her investments were much more beneficial to Sun than herself.

"Now I just realize that they were just brainwashing me," said Lucy. "They told me to buy the house, buy the business and in two years everybody gets a green card."

Lucy returned to China with her healthy baby boy. The trip that she expected to cost about $100,000 instead cost nearly $1.5 million.

She said she now believes that she overpaid for the Sammamish home and she's been unable to re-sell it to recoup her losses.
Lucy admit she's partly to blame for her troubles.

"Yes. I made the choice. I gave her the opportunity to cheat me," Lucy said.

Ming "Jennifer" Sun did not respond to repeated interview requests for this story.

When the KING 5 Investigators first exposed the Newcastle maternity homes in September, a spokesperson for Ming said in an email, "Fu Hua Enterprises was completely closed months ago, and Jennifer Sun has no interest to be interviewed nor does she want to be included in any of your reports and TV shows."

Fu Hua moved out of the maternity homes this summer, after pressure from the homeowner's association. Two former employees told KING 5 that they suspected that the business is operating elsewhere.