Anit Antony had an eight-month struggle to get his family into New Zealand before he and his wife could try for their second child.
Mirah Mariam Anit was born at 5.30am at the Queen Mary Maternity Centre in Dunedin Hospital to Mr Antony and wife Emil Jose.
Mr Antony said it had a been a long road to get there.
He moved to New Zealand a few years before his family and they spent eight months trying to get visas to join him.
The family are originally from Kerala, a state in South India.
It was a tough and complicated process, but they managed to join him just before New Zealand went into the first lockdown in 2020.
It was a beautiful country and they loved living here, he said.
Family members back in India had wanted to be with them for the birth, but they had to settle for a call on FaceTime due to travel restrictions.
They would hopefully be able to visit soon, he said.
The family live in Wanaka, but had opted to spend the holiday season in Dunedin as it had good hospital facilities and they knew the baby was coming.
Although Mirah had not been expected until January 11, the baby started coming just before midnight on New Year’s eve, Mr Antony said.
The couple’s first child, Anton Anit Antony was excited to have a baby sister and was intrigued by her in the hospital.
Ms Jose said she felt much better and it was wonderful to have a new daughter.
The family would spend a few days in Dunedin before taking Mirah to her home in Wanaka.
