This exposure forced me to rethink my misguided notions and try to look at the topic more objectively. Upon closer examination, I was startled to find that many of these men were truly wonderful fathers who suffered great anguish as a result of being unwillingly separated from their children. I had never pondered the devastating consequences of loosing the right to live with your offspring. Missing out on the milestones of your child s life, as well as day to day living, leaves you feeling more like a visitor than a parent. Despite popular opinion, a failed relationship does not necessarily translate into being a bad parent.
Men seem to be punished for the break up of a family.
It is often in everyone s best interest for an unworkable marriage to be dissolved, but that does not mean that the importance of either parent should ever be diminished. I attributed much of my new found enlightenment to a man whom I had met through a mutual friend. He had recently endured a grueling divorce which had virtually stripped him of his fatherhood. Family court had left him with a visitation schedule, a payment schedule, and a parent's broken heart. Nevertheless, he was relentless in his love.