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blackice
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Canada where else...
Sep 2000
time: 00:32
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Link
quote:
THOUSANDS of distraught dads have flooded The Sun with tales of their desperate battles to see their kids this Christmas.
Yesterday Sir Bob Geldof kicked off The Sun’s Justice For Dads campaign when he told of his past pain at having to spend festive seasons without his children.
His moving words struck a chord with other lonely dads who have only “access” to their kids after separation – or no contact at all.
Up to four in ten dads lose contact with their kids within two years of separating from their wives.
Now The Sun and other campaigners want fathers to be given equal rights.
Here MARTIN PHILLIPS reveals two of the most moving stories from fathers banned from seeing their sons and daughters.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the children.
CHRISTMAS, this year, will bring only tears and misery for dad John Evans.
His four-year-old daughter may receive a visit from Father Christmas, but her real father cannot go anywhere near her.
John, 33, is not even allowed to send his little girl a Christmas card.
A court has banned him from having any contact with his only child in case it depresses her mother, who now hates her ex-partner so much she will not even let her daughter see his photograph.
John has not seen his child since November 2001. He no longer knows what she looks like and has never heard her talk.
And there is little prospect of him seeing her before she is 16.
The Child Support Agency makes him pay £300 a month to his ex for the daughter he is not allowed to know.
Computer engineer John said: “I am happy to pay for my daughter. I want to play an active part in her upbringing but have been cut out of her life.
"On her fourth birthday I couldn’t even send her a birthday card. This Christmas is going to be torture for me.”
John met Maria in 1998 after she advertised in the personal column of an Essex newspaper.
Within three months they were living together.
But their relationship soured after she became pregnant that same year.
By the time of the birth, they were getting on better and he was present when his daughter was born.
He said: “I was over the moon. She is still the best thing in my life.”
But the rows got worse and he eventually walked out on them. When he went back to talk to his partner, police officers outside the house said there had been a complaint of harassment.
As an unmarried father, he had few rights. Only since December 1 have unmarried fathers qualified for equal Parental Responsibility.
The legal change means they are now treated in law as the child’s parent and take equal responsibility — provided they went to register the baby’s birth with the mother.
John had to spend £600 on solicitors to get an interim court order giving him access to his daughter two Saturdays a month at a contact centre in Colchester.
John said: “They are soulless places. As a father you feel like a criminal being allowed a prison visit.”
Maria became abusive during the visits and once tried to rip the film out of his camera, though he did manage to get one photo of his daughter, which he now treasures. |
I wish them all well and hope the best for thier children who have been ripped away from thier flesh and blood fathers.
Expect more traffic delays in the comming weeks...
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Comrade Tassadar
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Is it just me or are you always posting an "OPRESSED MEN!!!! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!" article?
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23-12-2003 08:03
I'm certain they are both DL's of the same poster.
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