Young couple had to pay one million ISK for prenatal care and birth of child

The medical costs for the young family are having an …

The medical costs for the young family are having an impact on the quality of their life. Photo/Pexels

A young couple have had to pay all costs related to the birth of their child because the mother is Mexican and had not obtained medical insurance rights yet in Iceland. If the mother was Icelandic and the father had been foreign however, they would have been insured. 

This was reported by RÚV national broadcasting service last night. Friðjón and Fernanda had their daughter Aria one month ago. Fernanda is from Mexico but moved to Iceland in July and married Friðjón in August. "We would have come earlier if we hadn't needed to spend three months filling out papers for her resident permit and marriage licence, that took three months in Mexico," said Friðjón speaking to RÚV. 

Getting a residency permit and rights to medical insurance for Fernanda takes eight months and she won't get those rights until March. For this reason, the couple had to pay all the costs resulting from the pregnancy and birth of little Aria out of their own pockets.

The amount is almost a million Icelandic kronas. 

However, if Fernanda was Icelandic and Friðjón of foreign nationality, the cost would have been paid by Icelandic medical insurance. Friðjón, who says the couple are struggling greatly, believes that this is a flaw in the system and that the rights of fathers and children are forgotten. "I suppose a child has no rights until it's born."

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