US airline asks mother to 'prove' relation with her biracial son

In Denver, an agent of Southwest Airlines asked a white woman to prove that her one-year-old biracial son was indeed her child before they could board the plane. Lindsay Gottlieb, who is the head coach for the University of California-Berkeley women’s basketball team, was appalled when the agent asked for additional paperwork to verify her relation with the infant.

Gottlieb took to social media to protest against the behaviour of the airline and tweeted, ‘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.’ In a response to her tweet, model Chrissy Teigen commented that ‘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.’

Southwest Airlines sent a statement to CNN clarifying that certain international flights required them to verify additional paperwork for people travelling with a minor. They also added that domestic travel didn’t have these requirements and that they didn’t match the last names of the child and the guardian/s.

However, Gottlieb was travelling from Denver to Oakland, California, a domestic flight and was with Patrick Martin, her fiancé and father of the child. Even though Martin presented his ID, proving that his son carried his last name, the agent was adamant on Gottlieb proving her relation to the infant.

Subsequently, Southwest Airlines issued an apology to Gottlieb via CNN and confirmed that they contacted her and have coached the employees to ensure that policies are followed without making any passenger uncomfortable.