travel

This baby girl was born mid-flight. So what the heck is her official nationality?

Cabin crew on a Turkish Airlines plane have helped deliver a baby girl mid-flight.

Nafi Diaby gave birth at 12,800 metres (42,000ft), while flying from Guinea’s capital Conakry to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Crew members with the baby girl. Image via Turkish Airlines.

The pair were taken to the hospital immediately after landing in the capital and both mother and baby are doing well.

Turkish Airlines said the cabin crew noticed the passenger, who was 28 weeks pregnant, was suffering labour pains.

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The crew  "promptly responded to her in order to assist her childbirth during the flight," a Turkish Airlines statement said.

Mum and bub. Image via Turkish Airlines.

The baby girl, named Kadiju, will have an unusual answer for "place of birth" on her birth certificate along with potential confusion surrounding her nationality.

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Being born aboard on an aircraft is embroiled in public international law.

A crew member gets a cuddle. Image via Turkish Airlines.

The United Nations classifies the baby being born in the country where the plane was registered  - which in this case is Turkey, but rules vary in each country.

Children born in Turkey to foreign citizens do not have a claim to Turkish citizenship but dual citizenship is possible - according to their citizenship law.

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It was a team effort. Image via Turkish Airlines.

Most countries have nationality laws that support the idea that a child born anywhere in the world can take the nationality of his or her parents.

Little Kadiju's nationality may be complicated but she's a citizen of the skies to us.

Podcast: I gave birth in a ute and now I’m truly Aussie.