Parents sometimes use children as pawns in disagreements
Many of the decisions and protocol parents need to follow regarding their children are addressed in the divorce decree and child custody/support orders. But there are certainly some events that no one can prepare for. Anger, bitterness, pride and different belief systems often get in the way of sound decisions when divorced parents have arguments about what is best for their children.
Such is the case of a 4-year-old girl that made national news recently when her father did not allow her to accept a trip to Disney World from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She recently completed her chemotherapy treatments for leukemia that she’s been fighting for the last two years. The Foundation granted her wish to take her Mom, sister and grandparents with her to the Magic Kingdom. But, she needed signed permission from both her parents, and her father refused.
The girl’s mother feels that her father was retaliating because he was only recently granted visitation rights to see his daughter earlier this year. She felt he was using this occurrence as a way to get back at the mother.
He argued that only children who were terminally ill and only had six months left to live should be awarded grants for the foundation. His daughter was declared cancer free. He was also embittered because neither he nor the girl’s other siblings were invited to participate in the trip.
The Foundation argued that it does not focus on terminally-ill children, but provides hope and strength to youngsters undergoing difficult medical procedures.
In the end, the little girl’s maternal family raised enough money for the trip by placing jars at local Haskins businesses and with donations that poured in from around the country through an online account.
Our firm can help you resolved conflicts like the one discussed in this article. Learn more by visiting our Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Family Law web page.
Source: Toledoblade.com, “Help goes national as cancer survivor, 4, will get her wish,” Mel Flanagan, July 20, 2012
