6 Months Pregnant Kelly Poon, 40, Doesn’t Plan To Give Birth In Singapore But Is Already Thinking Of Letting Her Son Study Here By Himself In The Future

On Tues (Aug 14), Taiwan-based Singaporean singer Kelly Poon, 40, announced on Instagram that she’s expecting her first child.

Kelly and her Taiwanese husband, music producer Roger Yo, also 40, organised a gender reveal party, which was attended by their pals, which included Singaporean actress Yvonne Lim and her husband Alex Tien as well as ex-Mediacorp actor Jeff Wang.

There, the Project SuperStar 2005 first runner-up revealed that she’s having a boy.

When 8days.sg got on a call with Kelly, she told us that she’s 25 weeks pregnant and that she took so long to tell everyone the good news because her first trimester was “terrible”.

“I had many bad symptoms. It was so bad that I asked many of my mummy friends if that was normal,” she recalled.

For those who are wondering, Kelly’s symptoms included: Vomiting, migraines, gastric, bloating, inability to walk without support, spotting, cramping and constipation.

To make things worse, Kelly also contracted Covid during that period.

“The doctor told me to just lie down and rest considering how I even needed an umbrella to move around. It was very scary for me so I discussed it with my husband and we thought that we should wait till all the test results are okay before we tell our parents and everyone else.”

Thankfully, things got better for Kelly in her second trimester and she could even return to work.

When asked if she’s going to stop working soon to prepare for childbirth, Kelly said: “Not so soon lah! Right now I still feel good, but it ultimately depends on my condition and the doctor’s advice. Last week, when I attended some singing variety shows, I felt so breathless and tired and I got a shock.”

Kelly went on to share that she doesn’t plan to give birth in Singapore.

“I will give birth in Taiwan because I’ve already confirmed the confinement centre and we’re looking to interview some confinement nannies,” she said.

Kelly and Roger, however, intend to have their son study in Singapore by himself in the future.

“Since we know he’s a boy, we want him to be more independent. We’re thinking a little far ahead because my dad passed away when he was in his 60s. Imagine if, touch wood, me and my husband pass away at 60 as well. That means we can only be with our son until he’s in university. That’s why we feel we should raise him to be independent,” she explained.

The plan for now is for their son to stay with them in Taipei all the way until primary school, which is when he will move to Taichung to live with Roger’s parents. When it’s time for him to be secondary school, he will then move to Singapore.

“That’s what we’re saying now lah, but who knows what the time comes right?” chuckled Kelly.

Kelly has no intentions on being a full time mum.

“I don’t think I can. I will be so flustered, and if I have job opportunities I would definitely still want to take them on. It’s why we’re thinking of hiring a nanny but a nanny can only be around for about four hours. In Taiwan, we can’t have Indonesian or Filipino helpers. We can only hire helpers if you have elderly people in your family. I’m so envious of my Singaporean friends!” said Kelly.

“They have child care centres here but my Taiwanese friends shared that the babies always come back sick. I find it so scary. Do I want to take care of him by myself or leave him there to build his immunity on his own? (laughs)”

Jokes aside, Kelly also couldn’t help but lament about how costly it is to have a baby in Taiwan.

“The confinement centres here are so expensive. The one I’m going to is not super atas but it’s not bad. It costs about S$10K for 30 days. After I return home, I need to hire a confinement nanny for two weeks to help me ease into taking care of my baby alone. I only dare hire one for two weeks ‘cos they are so expensive!” she said.

How expensive, you might ask?

Well… According to Kelly a confinement nanny charges about S$170 a day for 24hrs or S$120 a day for 9hrs. Her food and transport and grocery shopping for confinement food is paid separately per day too.

“I have a friend whose nanny cost her about S$2.5K a month and that’s not inclusive of food and transport,” said Kelly.

Watch Kelly’s full pregnancy announcement below: