Foreign Correspondent: When Becoming a Father Poses a New Set of Professional Challenges

There’s no question that having your first child changes your life, big time.

Any new parent can tell you that.

But when the new parents are foreign correspondent accustomed to living precariously, sometimes in war zones.

Well, the challenges of becoming a parent can be a bit more challenging.

Borzou Daragahi of the Financial Times wrote about this recently.

He and is wife are caring for their 14-month-old daughter, Samarra, in Cairo where they’re based after living in Lebanon for years.

“Life has changed since I’ve become a father living in Cairo after more than a decade working as a correspondent in the Middle East,” Daragahi says. “There used to be a time when I’d ask my friends coming to visit from abroad to buy me a couple bottles of premium liquor from the duty free or a few hundred grams of chèvre or Comté cheese from the fromagerie. Now I ask them to pick up some high-quality western-made Pampers or, when there’s a shortage, some baby formula. Aptamil is my new single malt.”