Currently living in AUS/NZ with SO. We’re going to be trying for a kid soon, but we have no support network here and no family to help out. I think we should move back to the States, where I’m 100% certain family members would come to help us out for as long as we needed. Given the distance, that just wouldn’t happen if we stayed in AUS/NZ. SO thinks we can just handle it on our own.
We wouldn’t need to find new jobs, as we can just transfer internally. Would taking advantage of your home support network be enough of a reason to back to your home country?
As an American also living in NZ absolutely have your kid here first. Having a baby in NZ is free and you have parental leave. When I was working in the US I had a coworker give birth to TWINS and was back at work 12 weeks later after burning through her PTO, FMLA, and disability leave. One baby suffered a broken femur at birth as well. Luckily they did have health insurance but I’m sure the deductions weren’t $0 like they’d be in NZ/Aus.
I work in healthcare and I cannot imagine moving back to the US to have a baby. What happens if you have complications and you or the baby end up in the ICU? How much would your healthcare cost you?
Is it feasible to pay for a family member to come stay with you postpartum to help out? Or even get a nanny? I would tally up how much you’re saving on healthcare alone and put that in a nanny fund.
Piggy-backing: why wouldn’t family fly out to support you in AU/NZ?
This is solid advice right here, not sure why it has been downvoted! Sure are a lot of ‘team america’ kiddies brigading this sub…
Yeah, I saw that anyone who spoke poorly of the US got downvoted lol. It’s fine, i feel like i am fairly qualified to speak on this post as a healthcare worker who has worked in the US and NZ.
Also my husband and I were fence sitters about having children when we lived in the US. once we moved to NZ the world didn’t seem so bleak and we decided we do actually want to have kids, just not in the US lol