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When a Judge Knows How to Parent your Child Better than You Do

Custody disputes are always hard and often filled with deep resentment over the loss of  an important relationship.  But the end of a marriage doesn’t mean the end of joint parenting responsibilities or the end of the love you have for your children.

What it does often mean is the end of the couple’s desire to work together for the best outcome.

So what happens when parents have huge differences in their beliefs in how the kids should be raised?  Reports have emerged today on two separate cases where the parents have gone to court over differences in raising their kids.

News.com.au reports

A girl, 8, will be given vaccinations against the objections of her mother after a Family Court ruling.

News of the judgment comes after a group of Australia's top scientists warned this week that the anti-immunisation lobby was endangering children's lives.

The Victorian mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was resorting to homeopathic methods to try to protect her child against disease.

….Justice Victoria Bennett said evidence from a senior Royal Children's Hospital paediatrician was that there was insufficient evidence to prove the efficacy of homeopathic vaccinations.

The parents must now ensure that the girl receives all vaccinations recommended for her age and in future.

And then there’s this

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A father has asked for custody of his "chronically obese" nine-year-old son, blaming the child's weight on his ex-wife.

The man subjected his son to repeated weigh-ins before and after visits to his mother to document the boy's weight ballooning close to 43kg.

The Family Court heard when his parents were together the boy was a healthy 21.5kg at age 5.

But after their separation the boy's weight almost doubled in two years.

A doctor told the court the reasons for the child's weight gain were "more to do with conflict" between his parents than anything else and the father had put an extreme emphasis on the problem, which was not good.

….Justice Fowler ordered that the boy live with his mother and that both parents adhere to a dietitian's advice on his diet.

It’s pretty hardcore when your differences of opinion actually affect your child’s health. And it’s hard enough within a marriage so I can’t even imagine what it’s like when you don’t actually love each other anymore.

My husband and I are pretty much on the same page when it comes to parenting but I think that's possibly one of the thingsre that keeps us together…

What are your relationship deal breakers? Is there anything that you would be prepared to go to court over? Anything that would end your relationship?

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