In a child custody case, a mother battling stage 4 cancer may have lost her battle for custody of her two children, as reported by ABC News.
A.G., plagued with terminal breast cancer, lost primary custody of her children because a North Carolina judge has ruled that “the course of her disease is unknown” and “children who have a parent with cancer need more contact with the non-ill parent.”
Besides her illness, A.G. is also unemployed; which was also cited as a reason in the April 25 District Court ruling.
The two children have been ordered to move from their home in Durham, N.C., by June 17, at which time they will then reside primarily with their father, K.S., in Chicago.
S.G. said of the court’s ruling, “It makes no sense to take them away from me because you don't know how long I'm going to live. Everybody dies and none of us knows when. Some of us have a diagnosis of cancer, or diabetes, or asthma. This is a particularly dangerous ruling to base a custody case on a diagnosis.”
The ruling gives shared custody of B.S., 5, and S.S., 11, to both parents.
The trouble for A.G. lies in the fact that she is receiving medical care at the Duke Cancer Institute.
If she remains in Durham near the Institute, her new custodial rights will only allow for weekend and holiday visitation.
The cost of airfare from Durham to Chicago makes the visits prohibitive for S.G.
S.G. has stage 4 cancer that has metastasized to her bones. She is having ongoing treatment and the cancer is currently listed as stable and not progressing.
S.G. said, “I'm fully functional and my kids are thriving here in Durham.”
The Uniform and Marriage and Divorce Acts, used in family court, takes into consideration all physical and mental health issues of parents when cited in custody decisions.
Dr. Gerry Koocher, a professor of psychology at Boston’s Simmons College, said of the ruling, “Substantial case law and psychological research consistently indicate that the physical and mental health of the parent constitute an important factor in considering custody of children following divorce.”
The custody battle between A.G. and K.S. has also been fraught with restraining orders, mental health issues, allegations of both infidelity and domestic violence.
S.G.’s cancer is only one factor that was allegedly taken into consideration by the family court.
Judge Nancy Gordon, in making her decision, quoted forensic psychologist Dr. Helen Brantley and said, “The more contact [the children] have with the non-ill parent, the better they do. They divide their world into the cancer world and a free of cancer world. Children want a normal childhood, and it is not normal with an ill parent.”
Holly Prigeron, the director at the Center for Psycho-oncology & Palliative Care Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said, “Cancer is not leprosy...young children want to be with their parents, even if ill. That's not to say that seeing a parent so ill will not be upsetting for children – it will be frightening – but not seeing a mother and not receiving honest answers about why mommy is not there may be more detrimental to the child's mental health and functioning than the reverse.”
S.G. is hoping to appeal the court’s decision and keep her children with her in North Carolina.
If you have been faced with child custody issues, contact a family law attorney for help. Proper representation, no matter how bad things may look, can help you maintain your rights as a parent.