What happens when you're born on an airplane? 當你在飛機上出生會發生些什麼事？

Renewing a passport and border checks are not the easiest of tasks for Shona Owen thanks to the unusual location of her birth.

About 36,000 feet in the air.

To the constant bemusement of immigration officials, her passport reads: "Holder born on an aeroplane."

護照更新和邊境檢查對於Shona Owen都不是簡單的任務，全因為她特殊的出生地點——大約在36,000英尺高空。

她的護照總是讓移民局的官員臉上充滿疑惑，上面寫著：「護照持有者出生於飛機上」

Owen is one of a small community of people who made their entrance into the world in this most dramatic of ways.

In 1990, Shona's heavily pregnant mother Debbie Owen, accompanied by four-year-old daughter Claire, was flying from Ghana, where she worked, to London on a British Airways flight.

Owen是少數以極為戲劇化的方式來到這世界上的人。

在1990年，Shona已經進入懷孕後期的母親Debbie Owen正與他的四歲女兒Claire從他工作地點加納搭乘英國航空的航班飛往倫敦。

Unexpectedly, she went into labor.

She was moved into first class, which was cleared of passengers and an announcement was made for anyone with medical training to come forward.

The expectant mother was in luck.

很不巧地，她開始陣痛。

她被移到已被清空無人的頭等艙，機上廣播請任何有受過醫療訓練的人自動上前，而這個準媽媽運氣很好。

Dutch doctor Wym Bakker, who had been helping women give birth in the bush in Ghana, was also on board.

Fearing being left alone with a new baby and Claire if the plane was forced to land in Africa, Debbie tried desperately to hold on until the plane reached Europe.

一位曾經在加納的灌木叢裡幫女人接生的荷蘭醫生Wym Bakker也在飛機上。

擔心如果迫降在非洲的話，她和新生寶寶跟Claire會被獨自留下，因此Debbie拼命試著堅持到飛機抵達歐洲。

On approach to London's Gatwick airport, with the blinds drawn, soft music playing, her very own doctor and cabin crew on standby, Shona Kirsty Yves — spelling out the initials SKY — was born, increasing the passenger list by one.

快接近倫敦格域機場時，拉下的百葉窗伴隨著輕音樂，她的專屬醫生和機組人員在一旁待命，Shona Kirsty Yves—字首拼音SKY(天空) —出生了，機上乘客名單多出了一位。

"I've always been told I was born to travel and I am working in the travel industry at the moment," says Shona who now works as an online marketing executive for a luxury tour operator. "It's quite a good story and it's a good ice breaker."

現在在豪華旅遊公司擔任線上營銷專員的Shona說：「他人總說我是為了旅行而生的，而我現在在旅遊業工作。這的確是一個好故事也是一個打破僵局的好方法。」

Sky-born community 空中誕生兒社群

It also became a topic of interest for Shona who decided to focus on the subject for her dissertation while studying for a masters degree at London's Goldsmiths University.

這對當時Shona在倫敦金匠大學攻讀碩士學位期間決定將她的論文聚焦在這個主題上，同時也是一個很有趣的話題。

"When I do tell the story, I'm always asked how rare is it? Or how many babies have been born on a plane? And I didn't have an answer," she says.

"So when I did my masters I thought this is my great opportunity to spend six months researching to see how many of us there were.

她說：「當我真的在說這個故事的時候，我總會問，這有多稀有？或是有幾個寶寶是在飛機上出生的？但我沒有得到解答。因此，當我在攻讀碩士學位時，我認為這是一個很好的機會去耗時六個月研究有多少個和我一樣際遇的人。」

"It was really interesting reading all these stories and to talk to another person who was born on a plane.

"My mother has met another lady who gave birth on a plane, I have talked to the pilots and it's kind of creating a community of us."

「讀這些故事以及和其他出生在飛機上的人聊天真的非常有意思。我媽媽曾經遇過另一個在飛機上生產的女人，我曾和那些飛機駕駛聊過，而這就好像創造出了一個屬於我們的社群。」

She also came into contact with Debs Lowther.

Lowther gave birth to her son Jonathan, just four months before Shona was born, on a British Airways flight in remarkably similar circumstances while flying back to the UK from Malawi.

她也聯繫到了Debs Lowther。

就在Shona出生前四個月，在英國航空馬拉威飛回英國的航班，Lowther生出了她兒子Jonathan，而這個情況與Shona出生時非常相似。

Most airlines don't keep records of births so statistics are hard to come by, but Shona's story is rare as airlines have rules safeguarding women and their babies.

大部份的航班不會保留生產的記錄所以很難得到統計數據，但是自從航空公司訂出了保護女人以及他們寶寶的相關規定後Shona這樣的故事就變得非常的罕見。

Though it varies, most carriers allow expectant mothers to travel until they are 36 weeks pregnant but from 28 weeks onward, a signed letter from a doctor or midwife confirming the due date is required.

Nevertheless, it does still happen.

雖然規定有所不同，但航空公司允許懷孕未滿36週的孕婦搭乘，而懷孕滿28週以上需要醫生或是助產士簽名的預產期證明。

儘管如此，這樣的事情還是持續在發生。

Nationality up in the air 空中的國籍

In May 2015, Ada Guan and Wes Branch were flying from Calgary to Tokyo when Ada gave birth over the Pacific Ocean.

2015年5月，Ada Guan和 Wes Branch正搭機從卡利加飛往東京，Ada在跨越太平洋時生了孩子。

This was a big surprise for the couple who had no idea she was pregnant.

Guan had seen a doctor before heading for a vacation in Japan and, after gaining weight, had even taken a pregnancy test which came back negative.

There were several doctors on board who offered help and the newborn, named Chloe, was born before the plane landed.

這對於這對不知道她懷孕的情侶來說是一個大驚喜，Guan在去日本放假前曾去看過醫生，在體重增加後，做過驗孕而結果是陰性。

在飛機上有幾位醫生願意提供協助，而名叫Chloe的新生兒在飛機降落前出生了。

One of the issues that arise in cases of babies born in the air is nationality.

In October 2015, a mother was flying from Taipei to Los Angeles when she went into labor six hours into the flight, eventually delivering a healthy baby girl with the help of a doctor who was also traveling.

在空中出生會產生的其中一個問題就是國籍。

在2015年10月，一位從臺北飛往洛杉磯的母親在登機後六小時進入分娩期，最後在一位飛機上的醫生的協助下產下一個健康的女寶寶。

Later, she was criticized as speculation in Taiwan mounted that the woman had intended to give birth in the U.S. so that her baby would be given citizenship.

之後，而她在台灣被批評質疑這個女人是意圖在美國生產進而讓她的寶寶得到美國國籍。

Citizenship laws differ depending on the country. For example, in the UK, citizenship is not automatically conferred to those born in Britain.

國籍法律依據每個國家而有所不同，在英國，不是出生在英國就會自動被賦予英國國籍。

In the United States, even a child born in the country's waters or airspace is a U.S. citizen by birth in accordance with the principle of jus soli (right of the soil) -- that's the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship.

在美國，就算孩子出生于國家的海域或是領空都是生於美國的美國公民，而這是根據出生地原則（土地衍生的權利）−任何出生國家領土的人都有獲得國籍或是公民身份的權利。

Free flights for life? 終生免費機票？

Popular rumor claims that people born on airplanes get free flights for life.

Any truth in that?

有一個很紅的謠言說出生在飛機上的人將得到終生免費機票。

這是真的嗎？

Sadly, it seems to be something of a myth.

令人遺憾的是，這似乎只是個神話。

Very few airlines are known to have granted a newborn free flights for life.

The only carriers to have done so are Thai Airways, Asia Pacific Airlines, AirAsia and Polar Airlines. Virgin Atlantic granted one baby free flights until the age of 21.

據悉極少航空公司給予新生寶寶終生免費機票，

目前這麼做的只有泰國航空、亞太航空、亞洲航空及美國博立貨運航空，而維珍航空則是提供新生寶寶21歲以前的免費機票。

Shona, meanwhile, received two free first-class flights to Australia on her 18th birthday, enabling her to visit her grandmother.

She was later used in an advertising campaign for the airline.

同時，Shona在她18歲生日那天收到兩張到澳洲的免費頭等艙機票，讓她能去拜訪她的祖母。

之後她還被航空公司聘用在廣告行銷的活動上。

Was she disappointed not to get a lifetime's supply of free travel?

"It would have been nice but from an airline's perspective, it's slightly dangerous to give birth on a plane and it's not this wonderful celebration."

沒有辦法終生免費搭乘飛機她會不會很失望呢？

「如果有的話會很棒但就航空公司的觀點而言，在飛機上生小孩有點危險而且這也不是這麼值得慶祝。」

But if airlines do start to feel generous, she's adamant that it's the mothers who should benefit, not the babies.

"My mum is the one who went through it all so maybe she should get the free flights not me."

但如果航空公司真的開始這麼慷慨，她很堅定地認為受益的應該是母親而不是寶寶。

「我媽媽是才經歷這一切的人所以該得到免費機票的是她不是我。」

原文網址：http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/29/aviation/people-born-on-airplanes/index.html?sr=fbcnni012916people-born-on-airplanes0303PMStoryGalLink&linkId=20785269