American to give birth in foreign country?

Hello-

First of all, I am so grateful to have found this site. I hope you can answer some questions for me.

I am a U.S. citizen living in Mexico. I "married" a Mexican citizen in a religious ceremony last March. It is not a legal marriage. We planned to marry legally in the states this summer so that I could do a legal name change at the same time.

In May I discovered that I was one month pregnant. I was considering abortion at the time. My "husband´s" reaction showed me a side of him that let´s just say has indefinitely postponed the desire on my part for a legal marriage to this man.

Obviously at this point I am "past the point of no return" and plan to go through with the pregnancy. The father and I are barely speaking. As much as I am not looking forward to the idea of being a single parent, I think at this point it will be the best way to raise a healthy, happy child as he and I have very different values and ideas about parenting.

At this point, I am not sure whether it would be better to have the baby in the US or here in Mexico. Obviously, economically it would be much better for me to give birth here. I am trying to gather information about what the differences would be for the child.

1. I believe that if the child is born here and registered with the US consulate, it would be both a US citizen and a Mexican citizen. And I believe that if the child is born in the US, it would only be a US citizen. Is this correct? And what are the registration proceedures?

2. If the child is born here, do I need his permission to take the child out of the country? If so, is there a "blanket" form that I can obtain that will grant lifetime permission to travel freely? Would this be any different if the child were born in the US? If there is a letter of permission or form, is it possible to obtain it before the child is born?

3. What other concerns, pros/cons, or other information should I be aware of reguarding my choice about where to give birth? And are there any printed materials or resources that address this issue specifically?

Thank you so much!

see your other post