See this man cuddling a baby? It’s not what you think it is.

When you are entrenched in hell it is hard to imagine the light on the other side.

It is almost unthinkable that one day you could laugh and smile and actually be happy again.

And even tougher to imagine that the person causing you so much pain could actually be someone you could become fond of again.

But it happens.

For one father the pain of a break-up was almost too much to bear.

The fighting. The nastiness. Courts and even police. The tug-of-war on the children.

You can see that for him, he felt there was no way out. No tomorrow. He even went as far as saying he hated his ex-wife.

The bitterness, the vile words, the feeling like your world has crumbled.

But three years on, his remarkable change of heart has gone viral.

The image at first glance looks like a loving father with his newborn.

What it actually is will astound you -a loving ex-husband with his ex-wife’s baby.

He writes:

His post has been liked over 330,000 times.

26,000 shares.

And the reason why is obvious. It gives hope.

One commenter wrote, “Love this. I'm (in) the dark, bad and ugly stage and can't imagine anything coming good of it all. Obviously you both put effort into it....key word ...Both. So happy for you and your family."

Another: “I woke up for a midnight glass of water and now I'm filled with hope. Beautiful and speaks to my soul and heart.”

It is hard to describe the feeling of a life you dreamed about ripped out from under you. The family unit you created shattered. Sure many, many marriage breakups are mutual, civilised. But the vast majority are filled with hatred, with words that cut like a knife, and once spoken you can’t imagine they will ever fade in your mind.

For those of us who have been through a marriage or relationship breakdown, who have been in that dark place, the internet can be a place of fear-mongering.

Forums and chat rooms filled with tales of lost custodies, of years of fighting, of darkness, and even the very real threat for many families of angers taken to such extremes that lives are lost.

It’s there. It happens. We read about it daily in the newspapers. We see the faces of tiny children like Jai, Bailey and Tyler Farquharson who lost their lives when their father, Robert Farquharson drove his car into a dam in 2005 after a bitter custody battle with their mother.

Or the tragic case of 4-year-old Eeva Dorendahl who was found dead alongside her father, Greg Hutchings at Pottsville in NSW on a sand dune.

The child of another bitter marriage breakdown.

What Sean Whalan has given over 300,000 people in 18 lines is a glimmer of light, a feeling that maybe deep down people can be nice, can be good, can be human.

He renews our feelings that only the truly evil do evil things. That love and shared pasts and new lives created outshine the horrors.

Have you been through a difficult separation? How did you survive it?

Want more? Try:

This woman went to extraordinary lengths to stop a baby from “ruining her marriage”.

The most irritating marriage advice ever might just be right…

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