WXMI — Three women who crossed the border into Mexico have been missing for more than two weeks.
Sisters Marina and Maritza Perez Rios, and their friend Dora Cervantes, drove from Texas to Mexico to sell clothes at a flea market, but they haven’t been seen since.
Officials in both the United States and Mexico are investigating.
READ MORE: 3 women missing after crossing Mexico border 2 weeks ago
Meanwhile, six arrests have been made so far after four Americans were caught in a shootout and kidnapped after going to Mexico to receive medical care; two of the Americans were killed, as well as a woman from Mexico.
The Mexican drug cartel believed to be responsible for the attack has since released an apology letter.
In it, the cartel claims its members acted on their own, against cartel rules.
The cartel turned over five of its members to authorities, and the two Americans who survived the attack are recovering back in the U.S.
Experts say this speaks to a larger trend of Americans who are willing to cross the border to pay less for medical procedures that tend to be more expensive in America.
FOX 17 talked with Carlynne Welch who lives in Michigan’s upper peninsula.
“Why am I driving from Michigan to Mexico instead of staying home or going to Canada to have my baby? Money,” Welch said in a video she posted to TikTok, documenting her travels.
In the video, Welch announced that she planned to give birth to her first child in Mexico because of how expensive prenatal care is in the U.S.
“I make too much for Medicaid, but I don’t really make enough to be able to cover actual health insurance,” Welch told FOX 17. “We’re just kind of in this weird gap and this was perfect for us financially.”
Welch says she did have some concerns, but those went away once she started working with hospital staff.
“I was, you know, planning on going to a place where I didn’t speak the language, in a city that I’ve never been to,” she explained. “Just [an] extremely easy choice. Found excellent people to work with here, exceptional care and the hospital…My entire baby was less than two months of health insurance that I can’t afford anyway.”
Welch says an ultrasound in Mexico cost $91 and a full panel of bloodwork cost $61; whereas, she would have paid $1,100 each in the U.S.
She gave birth on February 25 in Mexicali, which is just south of California, and it cost her $3,900.
Welch’s story is one of many involving Americans who cross the border for medical procedures, most commonly cosmetic surgeries. It’s also known as “medical tourism.”
Dr. Benjamin Rechner, a plastic surgeon at the Centre for Plastic Surgery in Grand Rapids, says he most commonly sees people for abdominal surgery, breast surgery and liposuction.
Those surgeries can range from $5,000 to $15,000 in the U.S.
While it’s likely cheaper in spots across the border, Dr. Rechner says safety should be everyone’s top priority.
“Well, just, it sounds like just going to Mexico can be dangerous. I mean, kidnappings and killings and things like that,” Dr. Rechner said. “You just don’t know what you’re going to get in terms of quality care, and so not everything is about the price. I mean…’you get what you pay for,’ you know, may be true here in some sense.”
Because putting your life in the hands of a surgeon or surgical team that you have no relationship with can be dangerous.
“That quality of care, not only at the time of, that small focal time of surgery, but it’s that entire process before and after, and, even for some patients, years after surgery. I think it’s really important,” Dr. Rechner added.
He encourages people with financial concerns to consider loans, but Welch says it’s not that simple.
“I can’t justify the idea of bringing another child into this world that I need to take a loan out for…she’s not a car, and to have an interest-bearing debt, just kind of hovering above our family’s finances forever,” Welch explained. “I’m not going to be having any babies in the United States. I can’t. I can’t afford it, and I think that I’m not alone in that.”
Welch has faced some difficulty with getting back into the United States, which she has yet to do.
Officials are processing paperwork in Tijuana for a consular report of birth abroad, which could take months; however, she hired an attorney to, hopefully, speed up the process.
Welch’s baby will have dual citizenship.
If you do decide to travel to Mexico, the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs wants you to keep in mind the following tips:
- Keep traveling companions and family back home informed of your travel plans
- Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations
- Do not display signs of wealth, such as expensive jewelry
You can also register your trip with the Department of State, so it can help you in case of emergency.
You can follow Welch’s journey on her TikTok page.
