Stay-At-Home Mom Lost Custody Of Her Son Because A Judge Decided That A Military Family Was ‘Too Unstable’ For A Kid
Her military family is the only one her son has ever known.
New Africa / Shutterstock A military wife and stay-at-home mom was devastated after a judge ruled that she would no longer have primary custody of her son.
The judge stripped the mother of custody because growing up in a military family would be ‘too unstable’ for him.
Military mom AJ Augie never imagined that she would lose custody of her young son Riley, given the fact that his biological father had no interest in being involved in his life.
According to Augie, she and her ex-husband divorced nearly five years ago after he admitted that he did not want to be a father. After she moved in with her parents, she started dating again and eventually married a Marine.
When he was stationed three hours away from their hometown of San Diego, Augie, and Riley, both moved there with him.
Around the same time, Augie's ex started dating a new woman; he decided to impress her by being an active father in his son’s life.
Augie and her ex agreed that he would be able to have Riley every other weekend. However, the distance made it difficult, so they decided to take the situation to family court.
It, unfortunately, backfired horrifically after a judge ruled that being in a military family would be too unstable for Riley and that he would be better off with his biological father.
Augie claimed that the judge was new and unfamiliar with family law and was biased against military members.
“Today is day nine of not talking to my son because dad won’t let us talk to each other,” a tearful Augie recapped in a TikTok video.
She is concerned about Riley’s well-being, given that his father does not interact with him or spend much time with him while he is in his care. “He has not spent more than an hour with him a day,” she claimed.
Now, AJ says that she is “fighting like [expletive]” to regain custody of her son and bring him back home to the only family he’s ever known.
However, hiring an attorney has proven to be extremely pricey.
Augie decided to launch a GoFundMe to help cover legal costs and open a TikTok shop where she could sell items to followers. Her goal is to reach $5,000 to start the process and develop a fair custody agreement moving forward. She thanked all of her supporters who have donated thus far.
Contrary to the judge's ruling, many people argue that military homes are perfectly stable for children.
“I was in a military family, and while moving around was hard, being away from my military dad would have been even harder,” one TikTok user shared.
“Military kids grow up to be the most resilient and well-rounded kids,” another user wrote.
Even if military families have to relocate to where they are stationed, all children need from their parents is unconditional love and support, which truly makes a home stable.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.