When my family was reunited in Australia, I had to learn to be a dad to a son I’d never met

“Starting again as a family hasn’t always been easy.” Sadam Abdusalam on the challenges of reuniting with his family, who were separated from him in Xinjiang, China. Photograph: Supplied

In December 2020, I finally got what I fought so hard for: my family back.

I was over the moon when I was reunited with my wife Nadila and son Lutfi after being forced apart for three and a half years. I could finally hold my baby boy in my arms – every father’s dream. I was able to go on dates with my love; watch TV and eat dinner together as a family. They may sound like simple things, but not for us. Like many Uyghurs, we had been brutally separated, unable to do even the most ordinary things together.