Sheehan’s story

I am a 22 year old British citizen who is pregnant with my first child. A year ago I went to Cambodia temporarily where I met the father of my child, fell madly in love and ended up deciding to stay and live there to be with him. We are now expecting the birth of our first child and although we are both extremely happy about becoming parents the new immigration laws have gave me so much stress during the pregnancy (so much I have even had to consider if I can keep the baby or not.) Cambodia is a country where you can only make a tiny amount of money to live and the living standards are nothing compared to what I have grown up with in the UK. I now feel however unless the immigration laws are changed I have no chance of ever living in the UK again unless I am willing to break up my family and leave my partner to stay in Cambodia. I am increasingly worried about my lack of options and have come to realise if we cannot provide for our child sufficiently on a Cambodian wage (which is around £40 a month) I will have to consider leaving my family to come to the UK alone to earn money or rely on my British family for help. If it were possible for us to live in the UK neither my partner or I would rely on government hand-outs but as I have no degree or career it would be impossible to meet the £22,000 a year requirement to sponsor both my partner and child.  I am so happy to be starting my family but feel as though It is causing my exile from the UK.