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There are a lot of factors to be considered during any child custody battle, but one some parents don’t think about until they are well into the court case is breastfeeding. For young children and their mothers, though, this can be incredibly important, so they need to know their rights in Arizona.
Consider the story of one young mother who was actually fighting with her boyfriend while she was pregnant. She knew they weren’t getting along, but they tried to patch things up. He wanted her to get an abortion and she did not. Eventually, the child was born, and that’s when things got even worse.
The relationship had not been good before, but it only deteriorated. They started fighting so much that they split up and she even asked for a protective order. Her boyfriend countered by asking the court of full custody of the young child. He was about nine month old at the time.
That was when the woman realized that she wouldn’t be able to breastfeed her child if she lost the case, even though she really wanted to and felt that it was quite helpful for him. Before they had split up, her boyfriend had been insistent that she use formula, anyway.
The couple was eventually able to find a solution where the father got visitation rights and she could continue breastfeeding her son, but this story just shows how big factors like this can be in a custody battle. As always, it’s important to remember that the child’s best interests are going to be what the court addresses above all else.
Source: She Knows, “The Mamafesto: When custody battles make breastfeeding nearly impossible,” Avital Norman Nathman, accessed Dec. 22, 2015
