禁漫天堂

About getting nationality for your child:
Are both you and your husband American?
聽 聽 聽Because, if the 2 of you hold different nationality, is not an issue for your child to hold dual nationality to both Morocco and USA. It maybe possible even if you are both America, but Morocco may question you as to why you want this option for your child.

Having a birth certificate in registered in Morocco pretty much covers the Moroccan side. Copies of the ID for the parents will probably be asked for presentation (if it is foreign: get it translated). I believe this is true even if both of the parents aren't Moroccan.聽
This birth certificate entitles your child to apply for a Moroccan Nationality card in the city the child was born.
Note:Having one parent who is Moroccan will also entitle the child to Nationality as well if for some reason the child was born elsewhere (this requires more forms, original foreign birth certificate, official translation of birth certificate, copies of ID card for Moroccan parent, copy of foreign ID and/or Moroccan resident card for foreign parent.
聽 聽 聽 ASSUME there are forms and documents needed by the government processor that are not discussed on any list (official or not) that you may encounter. Often in Morocco legal requirements for many things change. They are usually done without posted public disclosure.

As for the USA, you need to go to the American Consulate in Casablanca. Start with the website. There will probably be forms you need to fill out, and i am sure you can print out before your appointment. Take with you your child, the birth certificate of the child, an official translation of the birth certificate. You will swear and sign a legal statement regarding the birth of your child. The consulate will review the documents. Rearly do they require a DNA report, but I believe they are allowed to ask it if they believe聽 there appears any oddity to the application. Once the documents are filed, in聽 a few days, you will be issued a passport for your child as a foreign born American citizen. There will be a fee for the documents.聽 I think it might be less, but I would suggest you聽 assume it is the same as getting a new passport for an adult.

I am Sorry, but I do not know much about giving birth or what is or is not allowed than you know. But I will say that from my experience, the doctors here in Morocco don't really like to have the patient's family present/involved in most medical situations. You might get a doctor to agree to what you want before you go into labor, but in the end you may be given anesthesia and the father may be still be asked to leave the room (usually the hospital will stand behind the doctor's decisions). I had a doctor who wouldn't even do an ultrasound with my husband in the room.

Hi Hannah!聽 If you're on Facebook I would highly recommend that you search for the group, Positive Birth Morocco.聽 聽The ladies there are EXTREMELY helpful and will answer all your questions.聽 There's also a group called American and English Speaking Women in Morocco that is very friendly and helpful and have highly recommended the above mentioned group as well. I believe there's also a group for women living in Tanger but I'm not sure of the exact name (probably English Speaking Women in Tanger and Tetouan).聽 Anyway, both of the above groups have ladies that have been in your exact position and can offer some support and advice.聽

Good luck and take care,
Meryem

Thank you both so much for this information! Hopefully the nationality process will be easier than the marriage process was! I am a US citizen and my husband is Moroccan. I will continue my search for a doctor I can trust.

Thank you so much Meryem for you recommendations! I promptly included myself into the Facebook groups! Fantastic pages!

Alhamdulillah!

Zouhair and I have been fortunate enough to be introduced to a fantastic baby doctor, OB/GYN through the use of social media.

禁漫天堂 is a website I registered with to speak with other expats and read forums to learn more about the country of Morocco through the experiences of other Morocco-based expats.

I came across a thread titled, 鈥淩ules for Birth in Morocco.鈥� I proceeded to read every word within the post and followed the read with posting a question about OB/GYNs and if anyone had any recommendations for the Tetouan area.

Two lovely women replied with very thorough responses and I couldn鈥檛 be more grateful for their input.

One woman recommended I search for the group 鈥淧ositive Birth Morocco鈥� as well as the group 鈥淎merican and English Speaking Women in Morocco鈥� and suggested I search for a Tetouan-specific page for English-speakers, too.

Within seconds of reading her reply I searched the groups and asked to become a member of both groups and successfully found the page 鈥淓nglish Speaking Ladies of the Tetouan-opolis鈥� as well as 鈥淓nglish Speaking Women in Tangier/Tetouan Region.鈥�

I cannot express how much these groups have helped me in our pregnancy journey since being accepted into the pages.

The women within these pages will respond to your questions thoroughly and will offer more advice than you could have ever hoped for.

A woman specifically reached out to me from Tangier. She sent me a direct message through Facebook after seeing one of my posts on the group pages and offered to help me in any way she could and to not hesitate to come to her with any questions as she had just had a baby girl a few weeks prior in Tangier.

We spoke to each other quite often and one of the first things she suggested to me was her OB/GYN in Tangier. She raved about her experience with this doctor and that she felt very cared and even pampered by the staff during her birth.

Zouhair and I made an appointment, which even making an appointment made us feel optimistic, as the doctors we experienced in the past didn鈥檛 take appointments.

The time came for our appointment and we couldn鈥檛 be happier with our experience. The doctor in Tangier is professional, takes her time to get to know you (even with the language barrier), and it is obvious she takes pride in her work and takes each patient and case seriously.

Our appointment took around an hour, which most likely equated to the combined time of our past doctor appointments from weeks 6 to 25.聽 The office was very clean and the ultrasound machine recorded in 3D and 4D, which was a wonderful surprise for both Zouhair and I. There was even an HD TV on the wall facing adjacent from the ultrasound machine for the expectant mothers to watch the ultrasound process without cranking their neck around to watch on the ultrasound machine screen.

Zouhair and I watched our little guy on the screen and he translated to me anything the doctor said, which, Alhamdulillah, everything was fine. His organs, hands, feet, eyes, and little heartbeat are all developing great and how they should be!

Zouhair and I both are truly grateful for the support and advice we have received from everyone throughout our pregnancy.

Coming from America, I have different expectations about what sort of care I would like to receive and although my expectations do not always translate when I am in Morocco, I never forget that I am indeed in a different country. I鈥檓 in a different continent. Many things are going to be different and in many ways I like these differences.

The importance lies with comfort and trust with the physician, especially considering that pregnancy and birthing a baby is something that cannot be planned for 100%. The physician/patient relationship is important no matter the difference in language, the costs for care, or the location within this world.

It鈥檚 absolutely beautiful how much people can help each other Mashallah. If you ever find yourself in a situation that seems there鈥檚 no option that is good or enough for you, just keep looking. Keep searching, and most importantly ask for help! It seems simple, but sometimes I find myself forgetting that this world is full of people who have had their own unique experiences and some of these people are very willing and excited to share and help others as much as they can.

We鈥檙e not alone in this world and helping each other as the family that we are will help make this life much easier. You will most likely have many new friends and relationships than you did before, too. <3