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echoesofalienation

Fighting for my children, and battling alienation

My name is shae and my journey as a mother began in 2008 when I gave birth to my first son at just 16 years old. By 18, I welcomed my second son into the world. From the beginning, life was complicated—but the real pain didn’t begin until my boys were around 3 and 5 years old.

That’s when their father met his now-wife, who soon became pregnant. He came to me and asked if I would drop child support because he couldn’t afford two families. I agreed, thinking I was doing the right thing to keep the peace. But not long after, I was blindsided with custody papers.

The court awarded us split custody, week-on, week-off. Within a year, he took me back to court—this time, using my pending divorce and difficult marriage as ammunition. His girlfriend even filed a false report with CPS. Despite my efforts, he won primary custody, and I was granted standard weekend visitation.

Since then, it’s been over a decade of fighting a battle I can’t seem to win.

I’ve remarried and built a safe, loving home for my children. But my ex consistently violates court orders—denying me visitation, manipulating situations, and doing everything he can to keep the boys from me. Even worse, he successfully filed for child support, and I’ve been paying it ever since, while also being alienated from my own children.

I couldn’t afford high-powered attorneys. The ones I could afford didn’t truly fight for me. He, on the other hand, lives rent-free with his mother, with no bills, giving him the financial advantage to drag me into court over and over.

There are so many stories I could share:

Times my boys were too scared to be seen in public with me because they didn’t want their dad to find out.

Moments they cried because they felt treated differently than their two younger siblings in their father’s home.

My son once showed me a video of his stepmom beating his younger sister. He told me she did the same to him—not discipline, but beatings.

And then came 2021…

An explosion involving a gas can severely burned my son Rylan while he was saving his baby brother’s life. I stayed by my 2-year-old's side until he was released, then drove straight to the hospital where Rylan was fighting for his life with 60% burns.

When I arrived, I was banned from seeing him. His father had told the hospital staff that I was dangerous, claiming I had thrown gas on my own son—an absolute lie. I had to sleep in my car that night because I forgot my ID in the chaos. The next day I was told CPS was investigating me, and because Rylan was unconscious, he couldn't speak up for me.

For six months, I could only visit during short windows. His stepmom stayed overnight at the hospital—I wasn’t allowed. My son needed me, and I was kept away.

Eventually, Rylan recovered. But again, I was denied visitation. This has happened multiple times over the years—any time they want to punish me or control the situation. The most recent incident involved my oldest son hiding a phone at my house for two years, the only way we could talk. When they found it, he was grounded for the entire summer—no friends, no phone, and he was forced to quit his detailing business, which he started on his own with his own money.

This is not just conflict. It is abuse. It is control. It is alienation.

And despite all of it, despite court orders, despite truth, despite decades of documentation—nothing changes. Because I don’t have the money to keep fighting… and they do.

That’s why I’m here. I’m creating this page not just to share my story, but in hopes that I can finally raise enough to get proper legal representation. Not someone who shows up, but someone who will fight. Someone who can help me end this cycle of parental alienation and finally reunite me with the boys I’ve never stopped loving.

Yes, it’s embarrassing to ask. But I’ll take that shame if it means getting my kids back.

If you can donate—thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you can’t, please consider sharing this story so others can see what’s happening behind closed doors. Maybe together we can raise awareness, inspire action, and finally bring these boys home where they belong.

Thank you.

Beacon