An Australian couple is stuck in Florida after welcoming a surprise baby while on a dream holiday due to a highly unusual legal headache.
New South Wales parents Dana and Tony flew to the US for a trip to Disney World before deadly Hurricane Milton made landfall on the east coast.
But the wild weather wasn’t the biggest shock during their holiday.
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Dana had no clue she was 41 weeks pregnant when she went into unexpected labour at their hotel in Orlando, Florida.
The couple welcomed a healthy baby girl named Audrey as a once-in-a-century storm lashed the area outside.
“I can’t believe how well she’s doing, considering some of the stuff mum was doing like going on rides and on a plane at 41 weeks pregnant,” Dana told Weekend Today.
“I had absolutely no idea and really had no symptoms.”
Audrey arrived before Dana and Tony could get to the hospital at 5am on October 10.
Her birth comes with a few complications for her Australian parents, as Audrey was born in the USA.
Dana and Tony said they’re now in the middle of an administrative nightmare as they figure out how to bring her home.
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“We’ve got travel insurance, thank God, but the main concern is trying to get back to Australia,” Dana said.
“She’s technically got an American birth certificate and at the moment we’ve been trying to contact the Australian authorities and we were jumping through some hoops yesterday just to get some help.”
Dana said getting Audrey’s citizenship, despite having two Australian-born parents, isn’t as simple.
They said authorities warned it could be months before they can get Audrey back Down Under.
“They said it could be anywhere from a minimum of two months to 5-7 months,” Tony added.
“We’re Australian citizens… we [can’t] live here for almost a year. We would love to go back to Australia “
Dana added: “We’re quite stressed about it. I’ve got to get home… We don’t know if they’re going to let us home.”
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The couple said the Australian government hadn’t confirmed when they could legally bring baby Audrey back to Australia.
For now, they have to just wait it out.
According to Home Affairs, a child born outside of Australia to one or more parents who are Australian citizens can claim descent and apply for a citizenship and passport.
Applications are assessed on a “case-by-case basis” and can take time to process.
9news.com.au has contacted Home Affairs for comment.
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