Birth tourism lawsuit defendant denies offering medical help

One of the defendants in Richmond’s “birth tourist” lawsuit has applied for extra me to file a response to the allega ons.

Jie Zheng is accused in a BC Supreme Court lawsuit of misrepresen ng the level of antenatal and/or perinatal care and exper se her Richmond “birthing house” would be giving the wife and child of claimant Peng Chen

The Richmond News reported last year how Chen, who flew in from China with his wife in 2018 so their child could be born in Canada, filed a lawsuit on behalf of his infant son, Stephen.

Chen claimed his son was born at Richmond Hospital with complica ons and alleged that two doctors Brenda Tan and Balbinder Gill as well as Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), were negligent in the provision of medical care to Stephen and his mother, Rang Heng

He further alleged that Zheng who operated or worked at ABC, a birthing house on Ash Street in Richmond took advantage of the fact that he had “li le or no knowledge of the health-care system in Canada” and that he was “par cularly vulnerable” to the alleged misrepresentaons from Zheng

However, Zheng, who had not filed a response in the allo ed me, recently applied to the BC Supreme Court asking for an opportunity to respond, claiming that she and her family were living in China when the lawsuit was filed in 2020.

While out of the country, Zheng claimed the four tenants ren ng her property were instructed to forward her mail, but had

It wasn’t un l January of this year that a new tenant forwarded her correspondence with regard to the court proceedings

Zheng further claims to have no knowledge of the aforemen oned ABC business, had nothing to do with assis ng Chinese ci zens give birth in Canada and that the only service she offered was room and board and not any medical care.

Chen’s lawsuit makes references to complica ons at the me of his son’s birth, resul ng in his child being in the intensive care unit for several days a�erwards

Chen, a resident of China, claims that, as a result of the doctors and hospital’s negligence, his son suffered brain damage, seizures, delayed growth and development, cerebral palsy and cogni ve impairment

All of the allega ons in the lawsuit are denied by the par es involved and none have been proven in court.