You hear stories all the time about dead beat dads, but what about those fathers who try and get nothing? I know so many men who try to do the right thing for their children after a divorce but still are not allowed to see their children. I knew that if a father did not financially support his children he could get in trouble, anything from having his license revoked to jail time. What I didn’t know is that there is no similar punishment for a mother who does not honor the custody visitation agreement.
At least where I live if a mother refuses to allow a father to see his children, he really has no recourse. Yes he can spend a ton of money taking her to court to try to enforce his visitation but nothing really comes of it. No one will fine or arrest a woman who doesn’t allow a man to see his children. So basically, the men spend a lot of time and money and get a piece of paper that says when they should see their children but it’s not enforced.
How is this fair? Understandably if a parent refused to support their children there should be a consequence but shouldn’t there also be a consequence when a mother doesn’t allow her children to have a relationship with their father? The only thing these fathers can do is try to win custody from the mother, most of them don’t want to do that. Maybe they can’t care for the children full time or they just don’t want to rip them from their mother, even when she refuses to allow visitation, so ultimately they have no recourse.
I have many male friends who are waiting for their children to turn eighteen and hoping that they can have a relationship with them at that time. These men, as hopeful as they are, may never have a relationship with their children because of the damage that’s been done. Why do we have to be so mean to each other and deprive our children of people who love them?