An American tourist who gave birth prematurely in Cancun is unable to bring her baby home until an exorbitant hospital bill is paid, according to news reports in Indiana.
“Our daughter is stuck in Cancun, with our first grandchild and we can’t get him here,” said Elaine Smith, mother of Michaela Smith, in a Fox 59 report.
The baby boy, named Beckham, was born 12 weeks early during his parents’ vacation.
Related: Billing dispute traps tourist at Cancun hospital
The family has been frantically working to the newborn baby out of Mexico and to a hospital in the U.S.
Michaela’s parents said that a doctor cleared her for travel before they left the country. But Michaela went into labor Tuesday morning, giving birth to a baby boy weighing just two pounds, eight ounces.
“Literally they’re being held hostage down there,” said Larry Sr. “We just want to get him somewhere and get him stable. We need to get him in America.”
But then Hospiten Cancun got tough, according to the grandparents.
“Larry went that whole evening without seeing the baby,” said Larry Sr. “They demanded pretty much he pay another $4,000 and that got him access to go back and see the baby.”
Michaela and Larry Sr. handed over $9,000 to the hospital for the first day of care and then another $4,000 for various “fees.” Then they say hospital staff refused to release the baby to an air ambulance until they paid the bill in full.
The bill is now at $30,000, just two hours after they were told it would be $27,000, the family says.
Now a GoFundMe page is trending online to raise money for the bill.
Source: Fox 59
