Sexual Behavior Can Cost Parents In Child Custody Cases

Parents who engage in unconventional sexual behavior often have that behavior used against them by the other parent in their child custody case. While parents in same-sex relationships have been among the most notable instances of such scrutiny, even the actions of heterosexual parents can bring a negative impact on a child custody case. Parents seeking custody can use these unusual relationships, all of which involve consenting adults, to harm the other parent’s chance of getting or maintaining custody of minor children.

BDSM Roleplay Costs Mother in Child Custody Case

A recent report highlighted the child custody case of a woman in a BDSM relationship with a new partner. The couple had engaged in dominant-submissive roleplay, but never in front of the woman’s children from her previous relationship. In July 2013, the woman’s ex-husband used their unusual sexual behavior in his child custody case against the mother. He maintained that their behavior created a toxic environment for the children and asked the state social service office to remove the children from the mother’s home.

Misunderstandings Color Child Custody Cases

The social worker listened to the father’s tales of beatings, bondage and torture of the children. The case worker did not seek proof of the allegations and took the father’s side in the child custody case. She acted to have the children removed to a foster care facility until the child custody case could be resolved. The mother contacted an attorney with the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, who then called the social services office to re-evaluate the case. Weeks later, the case workers reversed the decision and returned the children to the mother.

Poly Groups Targeted in Child Custody Cases

Another group often caught up in complicated child custody cases are known as “polyamorous” or “polyfidelitous”. Instead of the conventional heterosexual married couple, these groups consist of three or more individuals in a committed relationship with each other. In one child custody case, a woman who appeared on the MTV reality show “True Life” came out as being in a polyfidelitous relationship. The woman’s mother sued to gain custody of her grandchildren and won.

Psychiatric Diagnoses Used in Child Custody Cases

A major source of information that attorneys and judges use in child custody cases is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM is the “bible” for mental health professionals. Until 2013, the DSM-IV categorized many unorthodox sexual behaviors as “paraphilic disorders.” These “disorders” were used in child custody cases to show that the parent was mentally unbalanced and that the child was in an unsafe environment. The DSM-V, published in 2013, has revised the definition to say that “a paraphilia by itself does not necessarily justify or require clinical intervention.”

Source: Daily Beast

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