A Family Divided: A Divorced Father's Struggle With the Child Custody Industry

A Harvard-educated physician returned home one day to find a note from his wife stating she had moved out and taken the children with her. The marriage was over, but he hoped he would remain a vital part of his children's lives.

His wife had other plans.

This is the story of a once-happy family now torn apart by divorce - its dignity shredded in a family court system that sees mothers as the only proper guardians for their children, even in the overwhelming majority of cases not involving abusive or threatening husbands. Written from the divorced father's point of view, this book exposes our twisted legal system, its obvious abuses of civil rights, and indifferent courts that subject caring fathers across the nation to vengeful ex-wives, opportunistic psychologists and psychiatrists, and overzealous attorneys.

Author Robert Mendelson argues that all fathers should not be viewed as deadbeat dads who shirk their responsibilities. Public opinion, the press, and the courts are wrong to think that men cannot be single parents. A Family Divided alerts divorcing fathers to the hidden minefields and pitfalls of custody proceedings, offers practical recommendations for reform, and sheds light on the real cause of fatherlessness in America today.

More and more, politicians, religious leaders, and behavioral experts blame the increase in crime, drug abuse, and teen pregnancy in modern society on the breakdown of the family. What these experts may not realize, however, is that the divorce industry fosters this collapse: The courts persist in viewing mothers as the only proper guardians - the primary parents - even in the overwhelming majority of cases that do not involve abusive husbands. Hence, fathers are eased - or shoved - out of their children's lives. In A Family Divided author Robert Mendelson, a freelance writer, presents the divorced father's point of view, arguing that fathers are not superfluous and not all of them should be considered deadbeat dads who shirk their parental responsibilities. Moreover, public opinion, the press, and the courts are wrong to believe that men cannot be single parents; that a parental role can be fulfilled through sporadic weekend visits. Mendelson demonstrates that both society's and the children's best interests require two active and involved parents, even if they maintain separate residences.