Mother with cancer loses custody of her children

Child custody battles in Wisconsin are seldom easy. One such battle recently fought in another state, though, has been tougher than most.

In this case, a North Carolina mom was fighting two battles at once: She wanted to retain custody of her children, and she was also battling Stage 4 breast cancer.

Earlier this month, the mother lost her legal battle. The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the woman’s two children, a 6-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl, must move from their home in Durham to live with their father in Chicago before the start of the new school year.

The mother is appealing the decision. However, it’s unclear if the Supreme Court would want to uproot the children again after they move to Chicago.

This child custody battle was a particularly messy one, according to a recent story in Time Magazine. Both the mother and father in this case were painted as parents who were far from perfect. The sides in the case accused each other of infidelities, domestic violence and poor parenting skills.

Nevertheless, the supporters of the mother wonder if she isn’t being discriminated against because she has cancer. An oncologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham told the court that there is no reason to believe that the mother in this case could not be one of those cancer patients in which the disease does not progress any further.

This painful case is a reminder of how important it is for family law judges who are making child custody rulings to consider the best interests of children involved.

Source: Time, “Mom with Cancer Loses Custody of Kids,” Bonnie Rochman, Aug. 13, 2011