Flying is certainly strenuous and bizarre enough in its own right — but, when you add the complications of having to “prove” that your own child belongs to you, you’ve officially entered a truly farcical territory.
Recently, UC Berkeley basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb was flying home from Denver with her fiancee, Patrick Martin, and their 1-year-old son. Things got uncomfortable when a Southwest Airlines employee demanded that Gottlieb show “proof” that she was actually her son’s mother.
Gottlieb tweeted about the incident, noting that the alleged reasoning for the interrogation was her son having a different last name. However, Gottlieb believes that the confrontation was racially motivated, considering the fact that her son is biracial.
@SouthwestAir I’m appalled that after approx 50 times flying with my 1 year old son, ticket counter personnel told me I had to “prove” that he was my son, despite having his passport. She said because we have different last name. My guess is because he has a different skin color.
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
The airline employee reportedly (incorrectly) cited that federal law requires a birth certificate, but that she would settle for a Facebook post.
@SouthwestAir she 1st asked for proof with birth certificate. She then said it’s a “federal law” (not true) but asked me to prove I’m mother with Facebook post.What??Mother next to me said she’s never been asked for proof despite diff last name..not shockingly, not mixed face fam
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
Gottlieb advised Southwest to train their employees on a different method for handling this kind of occurrence.
@SouthwestAir it was demeaning and insensitive, not to mention inefficient. Would have missed flight if it was not delayed. I would advise better training for employees to avoid this happening to others
— Lindsay Gottlieb (@CalCoachG) May 28, 2018
Gottlieb and her family were eventually allowed to board without further incident. However, many were shocked that Gottlieb faced such a bizarre interrogation.
@CalCoachG Daaaaang…. @SouthwestAir tried you like that? You good? How do you “prove” your child is yours’? ??? sorry you had to go through that… https://t.co/NLfDuHXdfj
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) May 30, 2018
Chrissy Teigen actually jumped in and noted that her experience with this issue changes on a flight-to-flight basis.
airlines have asked this of me, too, with my daughter. once I learned it’s a precaution for the very real threat of child trafficking, I stopped being exasperated with it. Now I’m kind of worried when they don’t ask.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 29, 2018
but yeah, it’s definitely a situational thing, though. depends on the day, depends on the agent, you never know! going to London is the most difficult with her in my experience. I have to bring a file folder of papers.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 29, 2018
Another mom claims that she occasionally has to produce the official documents, and that the request has “nothing to do with race.”
My son is same race, different last name. I carry a folder with passport, birth certificate, custody papers and court order for me to travel with him out of state or internationally. Sometimes I have to produce them, sometimes not. Depends on the agent. Nothing to do with race.
— kasasp (@kasasp) May 30, 2018
Though the policy for this kind of interaction seems inconsistent at best, Southwest nevertheless released a statement on the incident and apologized to Gottlieb.
“We have reached out to Ms. Gottlieb directly to address her concerns and will utilize the situation as a coaching opportunity for our Employee,” Southwest said in their statement. “We apologize if our interaction made this family uncomfortable — that is never our intention.”
Gottlieb accepted the apology, but adds that she hopes the codified approach to this customer interaction is significantly altered.
“I felt that in this situation it was my responsibility to say ‘Hey, this isn’t ok,’” Gottlieb responded in a statement. “I hope the coverage this has received can serve as a learning opportunity and that all families — regardless of how ‘traditional’ they may or may not look — are treated with dignity and respect.”