Kids' Divorce Stories
"Kids' Divorce Stories" is brought to you by the Ruth Institute.
Many children and or adults who were raised in divorced homes, have divorce stories they want to tell. Here at Marriage-Ecosystem (a project of the Ruth Institute) we are providing a place for these stories. If you are a child of divorce, post your story here. You can publish anonymously if you want, and also upload up to four pictures or other graphic images. Tell us your painful stories here, and read others' stories.
Your story will be approved by a moderator, and after you submit it you can choose to be notified by email when it is live on this website.
If you have friends who want to tell their stories, send them here! We want to hear them. Society needs to know how painful divorce is for kids, and how unjust it can be for them.
Divorce is not a freedom or justice enhancing option. It often reduces freedom and justice for those who do not want to participate in it. "No fault divorce" means unilateral divorce. The government takes sides with the person who wants the divorce, even going against the spouse who may want to stay married, and the children who almost certainly want their parents to stay married. It is fundamentally unjust for the government to take sides like this, especially against helpless children who have no say and are not responsible for the breakdown of the marriage.
The best way to fight injustice is to tell stories of those impacted by it. So please, if you have a story to tell about a painful divorce, tell it here. The more stories get told, the better chance we have at eventually creating pressure for divorce reform. The government should not take sides with the least committed partner. Divorce reform can stop this from happening.
It won't be easy to reform divorce laws, and that's why people must start talking about all the problems relaxed divorce laws have created.
Children of divorce: tell your story here! If you like this, please sign up for the Ruth Institute newsletter:
Are you a child of a painful divorce? Tell us your story
We know divorce is painful for kids. If you're a child of divorce we want to hear your story. You can post anonymously if you want. You can also upload up to four photographs.
Read what other children of divorce have said...
Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...
A marriage that should never have happened 
My parents, a Catholic mother and Methodist father, eloped in July, 1958. Those were the first two mistakes of many in their 13-year marriage, which ended …
Lifelong Grief
My divorce story begins with an image of my father, curled up underneath my baby bed while I slept, whispering a tearful goodbye. Later that night, he …
Dads new baby
When I was younger my biological mother thought she couldn't get pregnant until she got me. I'm the oldest if a younger sister (2 years ) and my biological …
3rd times a charm
My biological mother and father had only known each other 6 months when they had their shotgun wedding, which my mother was 5 months pregnant at. They …
Too Bad They Didn't Realize This 40 Years Ago...
My parents divorced when I was 9 years old. I've written 2 brief reflections on my experiences and contributed them to this site:
http://www.marriage-ecosystem.org/the …
Parental Alienation Syndrome
My Experiences with Parental Alienation Syndrome
I still remember standing at the top of a sloping gravel driveway. My sister stood beside me; I was …
The myth of divorce as the way to solve all your problems
My parents divorced when I was 9...
...and proceeded to continue to fight with one another for my entire childhood and into my adult life.
My own …
Just terrible
So when I was four months old, my mom go diagnosed with CML. My dad kept on going to New York for work. When he was working on a movie he had sex with …
I fear having a family so much that I probably won't
My parents were allegedly a common law marriage, but the state they lived in didn't recognize common law marriage at the time, so far as I can tell. They …
My Family Photo
Makes Me Feel Guilty
I have two photographs of my parents and me. One is a candid shot, in color, taken by my great grandfather right after I was born. My dad is holding me …
Light in the Storm
I remember watching from an upstairs bedroom window my father walking because my mother had tossed him out of the house. He had no where to go. I put my …
Hidden Pain
Life growing up was never easy for me. Maybe it was my sensitive temperament. I was shy, and a bit of a tomboy. Consequently, I was never popular in school. …
The Parents Move On, But the Children Suffer Forever....
I was born in 1967. My parents were on the cutting edge of society then. My mother had become a career woman in 1961, when my brother was an infant. …
2nd class citizen in my own family
I was the eldest child in step family situations on both sides. It was like being a second class citizen in my own family. On my mother's side, a new child …
when parents don't love each other
when parents don't love each other, they don't love each others family. when they don't love each other's family, they don't love the family of their child. …
Divorce for good reason
My father came home from a deployment and had found me (a toddler) bruised after being abused by my mother. He took me, and left, and ultimately gained …
Missing Father, Missing Time
I was fairly young when my parents divorced, six. It was rough on my brother and I. My dad kidnapped me and brought me to court. He asked me to lie about …
Gifts for them but not me
One time my step dad came home from a trip. We were all excited to see him, and he had some gifts.
Two gifts, to be exact. One for my mother. One for …
"The kids will be fine if the adults are happy..."
I am the child of divorce. My parents divorced when I was about three, and I was bounced back and forth between their households my entire childhood.
…
Their divorce nearly killed me 
Growing up in suburban Philadelphia, the daughter of two yuppies, it seemed like I had everything. I was pretty sheltered, a shy child by nature and nurture. …
Divorce Never Ends For Children
Based on my personal experience, and what I've observed knowing dozens of people with divorced parents, it is my belief that there is no divorce that does …
No easy solution
My mom needed to divorce my dad. He had been physically abusive for years. Eventually he committed adultery. While my mother felt totally betrayed, there …
The issues are legion
There are too many sufferings in my life to list. Two things I would say are: Divorce and one remarriage ruined every holiday family gathering for me …
Turned Out All Right?
My mom denies how painful the divorce was for my brothers and I. Once we grew up, she openly mocked the statistics demonstrating poorer outcomes for children …
Who i am Not rated yet
Their thunderous voices echoed throughout the house—so intense that they made the floors and walls vibrate. My sister and I remained upstairs cowering …
The Negative Affects of Divorce Last For Years Not rated yet
My parents separated when I was 11, and divorced when I was 12. Their marriage leading up to the separation was very difficult. My mom found out about …
No dad Not rated yet
Well I have issues with my happiness cause my parents are divorced it makes me feel incomplete or abnormal but that doesn't mean I am either of those things. …
Cheating Not rated yet
I will write you both sides my mums and my dads.
Mum
She started dating a man who lived in vic, right after she said she finished with her last boyfriend. …
A Selfish "Mother" Not rated yet
My story started about 8 years ago. I'm 14 now just to give you some context. I used to live in a large 3 story house with my father being a pastor and …
the lonely one Not rated yet
Unlike a lot of people out there, i don't remember a time when my parents were ever together so a lot of you must think that its much easier cause that …
Mommy come back! Not rated yet
It started when I was 5. I remember hearing them fight scream while I cried trying to go to sleep. One night as I was asleep I heard some yelling outside …
The grass isn't always greener Not rated yet
When I was 13, my mom began an affair with an old boyfriend, who she ran into at a reunion. She eventually divorced my dad, and married him. My father …
My childhood life Not rated yet
i am the first child and the first daughter of the family. I have other siblings; two little sister and a brother. Since I am in my mothers' womb i have …
my story Not rated yet
my dad left when I was 7 that was the worst day of my life ever since I was a really unhappy and negative kid after a while like 2 years I found out that …
Jumping Ship After Raising he Kids Not rated yet
My parents divorced after 29 years of marriage. Their children, including myself, were all over the age of 18. My mother said that she waited until we …
Divorce for "unchastity", or so they claim... Not rated yet
When I was young I used to tell people that I was glad my parents weren't together. When probed further I could only fall back to the fact that I had hardly …
my parents divorced when i was 39 Not rated yet
They had been married so long! They had three children and at that time, 21 grandchildren. It had been hard between them forever, but seemed to get worse …
Lost Identity Not rated yet
The earliest memory I have of my natural family is when I was two or three years old. I remember lying on my father's shirtless back while he did …
Legal Issues and a Lifetime of Stress Not rated yet
My parent's divorce could potentially be the cause of my depression, anxiety, OCD, social anxiety, and schizophrenia. Things got quite bad in a way you …
Trying to Outrun the Curse Not rated yet
My parents got divorced as I was entering high school. I generally say it hit my younger brother the hardest. I think that's just because his reaction …
Great Books on the Subject of Divorce and Children Not rated yet
I became a single parent of a 13 year old son and a ten year old daughter when my wife of 16 years decided to pursue a "new" life 400 miles away from our …
The cascade of generations of divorces Not rated yet
I am the child of multiple generations of multiple divorces. Both of my grandmothers, who were born around 1900, were divorced twice. My mother was divorced …
So it is My Fault Not rated yet
My mother left because she was "not happy." It was a simple answer, but it changed how I saw myself and everything else consequently. She said she had …
A Living Death Not rated yet
I was born late in 1964. Gen-X leaning late Boomer, I guess.
My father had severe mental illness & self-medicating drug & alcohol abuse. From his mid-20s, …
Enemy of Children Not rated yet
First, I never knew my biological father. But the pain from that didn't come until later. My mom's husband was there for me from birth until age 8. He …
Lives in ruination. Not rated yet
I was 8yo when I first found out my parents absolutely hated each other. They argued & fought late @ night after they thought we were asleep.
Being …
What should I call this man? Not rated yet
I distinctly remember when I was 5, trying to figure out what to call the man my mom had married. I knew my dad was supposed to be called dad, but this …
How about great-grandchildren of divorce? Not rated yet
Nobody in my family has divorced for three generations. But my great-grandfather divorced his first wife and married my great-grandmother. His own son, …
Transvestite Father Not rated yet
I divorced my ex-husband because he was a transvestite, a pervert in many ways, and a drug user, and alcoholic. They are both well, happy, and productive …