Why do 'parents' walk out on their kids?

[2plusangels]

Why do people walk out on their kids? and is there anything that can be done as a society to stop us condoning actions like this. In my experience it seems more men walk out than women....not only that but the men also sign on when they obviously are working to stop their child/children from receiving any maintainance...any thoughts?

because they are selfish twunts?

Because it is the easy option?

I don't think society condones actions like this, but at the same time there really is no way of forcing those twunts who can't be bothered into taking responsibility for their offspring is there?

My DS's father hasn't bothered to see him for three years, works cash in hand so he doesn't have to pay maintainance, and has basically disappeared. He's a first class idiot though, it is his loss, not DS's.

Some people just shouldn't breed (easy enough to say in hindsight obviously!)

I know a woman who walked out on her 7 month old baby

I think there can be many reasons why people leave their children
Ok there are some selfish people but there are also many unhappy people who feel that their families would function much better without them.
I don't feel it is right to tar all with the same brush as every circumstance is different

Actually, norksinmywistband makes a good point.

I was obviously only talking from my experience, but equally, some people simply cannot cope with parenthood or feel that their children would be better off without them and so leave. They shouldn't be tarred with the same brush as the twunts who cannot be bothered for selfish reasons.

Suffering from mental health problems can make it really hard to see any good in staying. If you feel really bad about yourself and think your children would be better off without you you are going to leave aren't you.

Some people also don't really have a choice. I remember a friend of my mother's, when we where little, leaving an abusive husband but having no choice but to leave her 5 children too, as the custody laws in that country favoured the father and she was English so fled back to England

I know a woman who walked out on her twins when they were babies but took her two other dd;swith her .

Twins are still with their dad.

Message withdrawn

It baffles me.
My dd's father was so good with her when she was little simply decided not to have anything further to do with her - it came completely out of the blue and there had not been arguments or anything else untoward.
He lives not far away yet has made no contact for four years (no birthday or Christmas cards)

What made it really difficult was trying to explain to a little girl with special needs, why her dad no longer wanted to see her and help her to get over 'mourning' for her dad even though she knew he was still about.

He has a new family now and I hope he does not hurt them or abandon them like he did to his daughter.

God knows why these men do this. I reckon they see it as an easy way out.

Thank you all...I totally understand people leaving for mental health reasons/ domestic violence but the fathers who leave because they do not WANT the responsibilities of raising a child is what i'm on about. It's is bad enough that they will not contribute to their children's mental and emotional wellbeing but to purposely tried to defraud their on child/children should be a criminal offense! It is totally unacceptable that the government just accept this and then go on about family breakdown and the young ones getting into trouble and having no role models......

My husband left last year after i found out he'd been having an affair with a manager at work for over 18months. He said she was 'just a friend' - who he was calling 16-20 times a day in secret, at 8.30 on a sunday morning, walking to the school as soon as the kids were dropped off at the school gate and at midnight!!

Apparently he was unhappy- because I was controlling his life- by asking that he collect the kids from childcare once a week, asking that he came home early enough so that we could all sit down & eat together and the kids could see him before they went to bed. Hes only a civil servant and works flexi- but couldnt get home before 8, sometimes our weekend would start at 10pm on a Friday- then he would want to meet friends at the weekend at the pub for a drink or go to football. I work fulltime too and actually further from home than him, and often couldnt even work late when I needed to because he wanted to go the gym or for a works do.
Now, he says hes a much better parent- because he actually doesnt DO any parenting. He's living with his mum- she takes care of the kids when they visit and he just lets them stay up late, eat junk and not do homework- and by the way ' it's not easy for him'

He actually felt like being 'just a dad' cramped his style- he was too cool for that label- dad's are all old fogeys and he's way too trendy & hip to seen that way!! BTW he's really upset that I never told him that he's an amazing father..............

Why do you say "the government just accept this"?

You cannot force a person to be a good parent, you can educate people but if someone doesn't engage with that education then it won't work.

DH's dad left because of a massive sense of entitlement that life had to better than this . He was 27 and had 3 DCs under 4 and felt it was all too much for him. But that isn't good enough is it?

The OP sounds like a journalist request.