Black Caps coach Mike Hesson confirmed the decision yesterday.
"He will be staying home and we’re very supportive of that. Obviously, it is family first and that’s the priority," Hesson said.
George Worker replaces Southee in the squad and will provide batting cover.
The Central Districts opener has been in good touch this season with 175 runs from two Plunket Shield games.
Southee’s absence will leave an opening in the attack which either Canterbury’s Matt Henry or Auckland’s Lockie Ferguson will fill.
Henry has taken 22 wickets at an average of 48.50 in eight tests, while the uncapped Ferguson has wonderful pace, a cracking yorker and arguably the best bouncer in New Zealand domestic cricket.
He destroyed Otago in a Plunket Shield game earlier this month, taking 12 wickets in the match. The 26-year-old also took seven wickets against the West Indies in a three-day warm-up match at Lincoln earlier this week.Hesson said the decision would be tricky as both bowlers were performing well.
"It’s nice to have a couple of very good options — obviously Henry did very well in the last test match he played against South Africa and Lockie is probably bowling as well as he ever has.
"It just depends what we want to go with — whether we want to go with extra pace or whether we think it might nip around a bit and we want someone with Matt’s control."
The Basin Reserve has proven friendly for bounce bowlers this season with former international Hamish Bennett taking a bootload of wickets for very little runs at the venue.
The first test starts in Wellington tomorrow.
— Additional reporting NZN
