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Does pregnancy affect custody battles?

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toby_t

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Missouri



My girlfriend has 3 yr. old twins with another father who pays child support and sees the children on weeekends and holidays, but he recently filed papers to gain full custody of the twins. Since then she has become pregnant with my child, and is worried that when this comes up in court, she is going to lose her kids, or is more likely to lose her kids... Would getting married before court change how we look to the judge?
 


In my experience siblings actually help to retain/gain custody. As for the marriage yes it tends to look better if you two were at least engaged but don't jump to something you are not ready for just to look a certain way to the Court.
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
Probably not, but presumably he has other reasons to be filing for custody - what are they?
 

toby_t

Junior Member
Other reasons are that she had a minor nervous breakdown a few months ago and he thinks she is unfit to raise the twins. The police came and took her from her house and she passed a 24 hour evaluation and was back home the next day.
 

casa

Senior Member
toby_t said:
Other reasons are that she had a minor nervous breakdown a few months ago and he thinks she is unfit to raise the twins. The police came and took her from her house and she passed a 24 hour evaluation and was back home the next day.
THAT will be the problem in court, not the new pregnancy. If she had a nervous breakdown so recently, it's feasible the father is just genuinely concerned about his children. What was the outcome of her evaluation? Was she advised to attend therapy or take medication? A lot will depend on whether she is treating her depression and active in her own recovery. Another issue is where were the children when this happened? Was there a competent adult to take care of them while Mom was being evaluated, and if so, is that person going to be a continual support system for the mother?

IMO these are the pertinent issues
 

toby_t

Junior Member
She was not taking her medication for depression at the time becuase she said it made her feel "worse" in the head. The breakdown happened over a weekend when the twins were at the fathers house, so they did not see anything out of order. She passed her 24 hr. psyche evaluation and was told to attend weekly therapy sessions(which she does) and to get back on her meds and continue to take them on a regular schedule(which she is also now doing).
 

casa

Senior Member
toby_t said:
She was not taking her medication for depression at the time becuase she said it made her feel "worse" in the head. The breakdown happened over a weekend when the twins were at the fathers house, so they did not see anything out of order. She passed her 24 hr. psyche evaluation and was told to attend weekly therapy sessions(which she does) and to get back on her meds and continue to take them on a regular schedule(which she is also now doing).
These are all good signs. The next step would be to discuss with her therapist the upcoming custody case and ask the therapist's opinion of Mom's capacity to parent. The court will likely request the records anyway.
 

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