St. Charles Divorce Law Blog

Many Missouri couples may find themselves struggling to find a way to have children of their own. In decades past, the alternatives may have seemed limited, but in today's world, there are many options. One of these options is called a surrogacy agreement.

In recent years, several celebrities have attempted to help change the stigma that was once attached to surrogacy. It used to be believed by many that women who offered their services to carry a child were doing so for the money in an attempt to relieve personal financial woes. Quite to the contrary, it has now been shown that one's financial status shouldn't always determine her ability or willingness to be an adequate surrogate.

Missouri residents may be as confused as the rest of the nation as they attempt to keep up with the recent changes to immigration laws. Many people are aware that some immigrants have lost physical custody of their children as they attempt to clear up their immigration status. Many of these children are taken into government foster care, and the matter can be complicated to sort. 

When the immigration status of a parent is called into question, he or she may have the option to allow a family member to care for his or her children who are already in the country. Many families are afraid to take advantage of this offer because they fear that naming a family member to care for their children may call the family member's status into question as well. Many parents allow their children to be taken into foster care because they are under the impression it will help them remedy their legal woes quickly. 

Many Missouri families may be familiar with situations in which parents who live in separate households must figure out how to share custody of a child. Many parents believe they can work out a schedule outside of the court system, and may reason that the parents, though separated, have a friendly relationship. Though this may be a tempting route to explore, not having an official child custody order in place leaves parents vulnerable to future problems. 

Recently, police were contacted when a Missouri father came to the mother's residence to pick the child up for a visit. A dispute between the parents required the presence of law enforcement to sort the matter. Upon arrival, police determined that, since there was no child custody order, the father was technically trespassing, and he was formally charged. 

Missouri parents would likely agree that each parent-child relationship is different. In an age where parents are aware of the far-reaching extent of child abuse across the nation, many fear that the regular scrapes, bumps and bruises that children get from time to time may be mistaken by onlookers as a sign of physical abuse in the home. Recently, parents who suffer from conditions that have rendered them blind or deaf have spoken out, saying they feel they are often singled out in these situations, and they fear their handicap can lead to a change in child custody. 

Many Missouri parents say their fears are not unfounded, and they can provide recent examples in which a parent lost custody of his or her child based on an assumption that their disability prevents them from being a good parent. They argue that many of the methods used by courts and social workers to determine appropriate child custody are based on the relationships seeing and hearing parents have with their children. A blind parent who cannot see a bruise on his or her child may not be aware others suspect abuse. A deaf parent who cannot hear his or her child cry or call for help may be looked upon as incapable.