I would not have had the privilege of meeting them were it not for my own divorce.
When I was ordered to go for mandatory counselling to help ex-spouses learn to co-parent post-divorce, I encountered a group of foreign spouses. Women who had their long-term visit passes cancelled by their ex-spouses and were on social visit passes sponsored by their lawyers, so that they could remain in Singapore to fight for their right to see their children.
They had not met their children for a few years at that point. Visitations had been denied by their ex-spouses.
I was incredulous. These women were going through pointless mandatory co-parenting sessions to be able to begin the legal process to gain access to their kids.
I was upset at the lack of sensitivity, and at the end of a breakout session where we were supposed to be discussing how to be mindful not to compete with the other parent in Christmas gifting, I raised the point to the counsellor that these women had not seen their kids for two Christmases.
