Indian Jassi Singh held his 7-month-old son for the first time due to pandemic restrictions in his country. His wife Shannen Singh had gone to Australia and visited her husband even though his moving visa was not yet authorized.
Father raises son for the first time after 7 months due to COVID-19 restrictions (Photo: Reproduction / Facebook / Newsport Daily)
According to site newsport, Jessie and Shannen were married in June 2019 in India. Soon after, the woman moved to Australia to work, and Jassi planned to leave shortly thereafter, although the immigration process was delayed. While Jessie was not allowed to live in Australia, Shannon often visited her husband’s home in his home country.
In March 2020, the pandemic began to spread and international borders were closed. That month Shannen, who had recently visited her husband, learned that she was pregnant. “While we were all very happy, we were also sad that he couldn’t travel here, so it was an emotional roller coaster,” she told the website.
The couple’s son, Sean, was born in November. Jassi cannot be with his wife, but he witnessed the delivery by video call. “My mom was here with me, and my husband was video calling for hours,” Shannon said. “It was very difficult to be alone during pregnancy and it was even more difficult when the baby was born and I had to take care of him alone.”
In January this year, Jassi’s visa was finally approved. However, the father had difficulties finding flights to Australia, which always got cancelled. The situation was made even more difficult by the outbreak of the Indian version of COVID-19 in April, which led to Australia banning anyone from entering the country.
The family approached DFAT (Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) to register a case. “Me, my husband, my mother, my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law all got in touch with DFAT to get all the correct documents to get Jassi registered and help move to Australia,” Shannon said.
After much effort, on 23 May, Jassi got a seat in the return flight. He had to quarantine for two weeks before meeting his family.
The mother said that the meeting between the son and the father was very emotional. “Everyone was saying that Sean wasn’t going to recognize him, but Jessie had been talking to him by video call since the day he was born, and he recognized him,” he said. “He jumped right into my husband’s arms and they’re so close.” Now this family has managed to settle down all together in the city of Port Douglas, Australia.
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