Have you ever wondered if there is a vast place on this earth that has become a separate continent, but this entire continent absolutely does not allow any woman to give birth, nor does it allow any child to cry out upon birth? It sounds like a joke, a plot in a science fiction movie, but it is entirely true, and that place is Antarctica. This vast white continent of ice and snow, although covering 14 million km², has not a single maternity hospital, nor does it have an indigenous population. And most importantly, giving birth here is completely prohibited.
Why is childbirth prohibited in such a vast land?
Isn't the birth of a person the first step to building a human community at the ends of the earth? However, if you delve deeper, you will find that the strange ban is quite reasonable. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and driest continent on earth. Located at the southernmost point of the globe, it is almost entirely covered by ice and snow. This place is about 14 million km², which is larger than Europe, but there are hardly any long-term indigenous residents.
In winter, temperatures drop below minus tens of degrees Celsius, and winds can reach 200 km/h, which is quite normal, while summer temperatures hover around freezing. Interestingly, despite being covered in ice and snow, Antarctica is considered the largest desert in the world because the average annual rainfall is less than 50 mm. It is a massive ice reservoir that accounts for over 60% of the earth's fresh water. Currently, there are only about 1 to 5,000 people living here, mainly scientists residing in international research stations seasonally, completely isolated from the world.
To understand more about why there is a ban on childbirth in Antarctica, we need to go back to the 1950s. At that time, 12 countries including the USA, the Soviet Union, the UK, France, and many others signed a special document in Washington. It is called the Antarctic Treaty. What does this treaty stipulate? This treaty states that the entire area south of latitude 60 will not belong to any country. It will have no borders, no military, no commercial exploitation, and will only exist for the sole purpose of scientific research and peaceful cooperation, that is Antarctica. This means that if a baby is born in Antarctica, the puzzling question will immediately arise. What nationality does that baby have?
If the baby is born at the Argentine base, does that mean the surrounding land belongs to Argentina? If the baby is the child of an American couple but is born at a Russian station, how will the birth certificate be recorded? These questions are not simple because nationality is not just a matter of paperwork but is also tied to sovereignty, rights, and territorial disputes. Therefore, to prevent any country from exploiting childbirth as evidence to claim sovereignty, the Antarctic Treaty has tacitly regarded childbirth here as a taboo, completely prohibited. Antarctica must be kept as a common land for all humanity, not belonging to anyone in particular and not allowing anyone the opportunity to plant a flag through cunning maneuvers.
However, regulations are one thing, and reality has exceptions, meaning it is prohibited but still happens. History has recorded at least a few babies born in Antarctica. The most famous case occurred on January 7, 1978, at the Esperanza base of Argentina. At that time, a baby boy, and now we must refer to him as an uncle or grandpa named Emilio Marcos Des Palma, cried out upon birth, becoming the first child in history to be born in Antarctica. Emilio's story was not random. His mother was brought to the base by the Argentine government when she was more than 7 months pregnant. This was a decision more political and calculated than medical, aimed at asserting Argentina's presence in Antarctica.
The Argentines wanted to prove that not only flags, research stations, or military presence but even their people could live and give birth in this land. This event immediately caused a stir in global public opinion. Emilio was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the first person born in Antarctica. But what Argentina hoped for, which was to gain an advantage in sovereignty, completely failed. Other countries did not recognize that the birth of a child could create territorial rights. For them, it was just a cleverly staged trick. Emilio later grew up in Argentina, holding Argentine nationality and not having what is called Antarctic citizenship.
In fact, it was not just Emilio; in the following years, Argentina and Chile, which are South American countries, also had a few other births at research bases. In total, about 10 babies have been born within Antarctica. However, all these births stemmed from political motives; no one would foolishly bring a pregnant woman to such a cold place just to give birth. And after the 1990s, this trend completely ceased due to increasingly stringent international regulations, and giving birth in Antarctica would not solve anything. Even setting aside the political factor, giving birth in Antarctica remains an extremely dangerous act.
Imagine you are pregnant and the place you live has temperatures ranging from -40 to -80° C, winds gusting up to 200 km/h, and snowstorms that can last for weeks. Not to mention, sunlight can completely disappear for months, making every activity much more difficult. Research stations in Antarctica, no matter how modern, only have basic medical rooms. They are designed to treat fractures, frostbite, pneumonia, or minor accidents. As for cesarean sections, emergency obstetrics, and handling pregnancy complications, they are completely beyond their capabilities. A birth, which already carries many risks, occurring under such harsh and deprived conditions significantly increases the risk of death for both mother and child.
Geographical distance is also a tremendous obstacle. If there are severe obstetric complications, transporting the patient back to the mainland requires flying thousands of kilometers through extremely harsh weather conditions. In winter, emergency flights are nearly impossible due to heavy snowstorms and pervasive darkness. It can be said that a birth in Antarctica is no different from a life-threatening gamble for both mother and child. But there is another reason why childbirth in Antarctica is prohibited, which is the environmental issue.
Antarctica is considered a natural laboratory.
This is where scientists study climate, melting ice, biological changes, and all require an unspoiled environment unaffected by humans. If there is a birth here, it means bringing a lot of medicines, medical equipment, and generating a lot of biological waste, which everyone knows what it is. If these are not perfectly handled, they can affect the extremely fragile ecosystem in Antarctica. Just one strange bacterium escaping could ruin decades of climate and biological research here.
Therefore, Antarctica has extremely strict regulations on environmental protection. Even a piece of trash, a drop of gasoline, or a chemical spill is considered a serious violation. In such a situation, childbirth, a process with many medical complications and biological waste, suddenly finds itself on the absolute prohibition list. Thus, people still joke that giving birth in Antarctica is now harder than giving birth in many other harsh places in the world. On Mount Everest, people can still give birth, as long as there are accompanying medical conditions, even though it is dangerous due to lack of oxygen.
In the Sahara, a scorching and harsh desert, humans have still existed for thousands of years, still giving birth to maintain their lives. Even space agencies like NASA have studied the possibility of giving birth in space to prepare for the prospect of migrating to another place. However, Antarctica is different. Despite being larger than Europe, it remains frozen by international law, by politics, and by natural conditions that are unimaginably harsh. That is why Antarctica has become the only continent where humans have no indigenous population, no maternity hospitals, and no cries of birth that are legally recognized.
Today, each year, about 1,000 to 5,000 people come to Antarctica to work at research stations depending on whether it is summer or winter. All of them undergo extremely rigorous health checks. Pregnant women, those with chronic illnesses, or anyone with medical risks are absolutely not allowed to go to Antarctica. In winter, when snowstorms cover the land, the population of Antarctica drops to only about 1,000 people living in complete isolation from the rest of the world.
So in the future, will there come a day when humans can give birth in Antarctica?
In theory, it is possible that humans could build modern hospitals, have a team of obstetricians, possess absolutely safe environmental processing technology, and have changes in international law, then this could happen. But in reality, within the next 100 years, that is nearly impossible. Antarctica will still only be a natural laboratory where humans come and go, not a place to establish families or give birth.