Father-to-be in plea to US Embassy as travel ban stops him from flying over for baby’s birth
AN IRISHMAN will miss the birth of his first child because of the US Covid-19 travel ban.
Seán Donovan (29) has appealed to the US Embassy for permission to travel to see his heavily pregnant partner, Corsi Crumpler, in Texas before she is due to give birth in two weeks’ time.
Ms Crumpler is based in the US but, because the couple are not married, Mr Donovan is not allowed to travel there, despite being the father of the child.
“It’s really frustrating. If I think about it too much it just angers me, because I struggle to put into words how wrong the system feels,” Mr Donovan, from Malahide, Co Dublin, said.
“You have no power, you have no control over it, so you just feel helpless.”
The couple met in a pub in Swords in November 2018 when Ms Crumpler was working as a flight attendant. They have been together ever since, sometimes having a long-distance relationship between Ireland and the US.
The couple found out they were expecting a baby in November 2019.
Since then, Ms Crumpler has been based in Texas, with Mr Donovan travelling over and back.
“I travelled back over at the start of December for the first baby scan, and then I stayed with her for about a week and then we both flew back to Ireland and stayed here for Christmas,” Mr Donovan said.
Ms Crumpler returned to Texas in January, and Mr Donovan flew over for the 20-week scan at the start of March. He returned just before Ireland went into lockdown.
In March, the US imposed a travel ban but made an exception for passengers from Ireland and the UK. Days later, it was announced that Ireland would be included in the ban.
“When the lockdown started, I was constantly trying to reassure her that it would be over in time for the birth, but then it just kept going on and on and on.
“It was at the end of May when we got more panicked and it seems a reality now that I won’t make the birth, which is very disappointing,” Mr Donovan added.
He said he has been in “constant contact” with the US Embassy to try to get permission to travel on compassionate grounds. However, even after testing negative for Covid-19 and providing paperwork he was refused. It was suggested to Mr Donovan that he could travel to a country like Mexico, isolate for 14 days and then try to cross the border into the US.
“It doesn’t make sense,
I’d have a higher chance of contracting Covid-19 that way. Plus, after isolating for two weeks I would probably miss the birth anyway,” he said.
Mr Donovan said he has been in touch online with “loads” of couples who are in similar situations all across Europe, where one person is in the US and the other is unable to travel to see them.
Once their baby is born, Mr Donovan will be allowed to travel to see the child, but he is disappointed to have missed the end of the pregnancy and the birth.