Child Support can unfortunately be a difficult issue and single mother Patricia Bryan knows more than most, having wrestled with it for more than 20 years.
Indeed, the Caymanian single-handedly advocated for legislative/parliamentary changes on the Maintenance and Affiliation Laws dealing with Child Support issues in her native land in 2005.
She subsequently received reception from the government, which unanimously approved a motion to review these laws. Regrettably, she says, this motion remains un-reviewed, therefore the laws remain un-revised.
And now she has self-published a book on the subject.
“[It took] about two hours to write the core contents of the book. It was all so personal and ‘saved’ that it was free-flowing. The technical and legal parts and some of the stories were added here and there over a year and a half, as I was procrastinating on the book. Self-doubting myself is more like it.
“I wrote a few articles in the Caymanian Compass and Cayman Net News years ago, mostly on this topic. I used to write poetry that has been ‘buried’ and I have three other books I am nearly finished with. One highlights my beautiful beloved isles, Cayman,” she tells us.
Personal experience
The book is called It Isn’t About the Money – the Real Reasons Behind Child Support and is available from Hobbies & Books, Books & Books and Amazon.com. Patricia, who is studying in the United States, says she is planning to come home for summer in mid-June. A signing may follow.
It was based on personal experience as well as wanting to address the issues that relatives, friends and associates have similarly faced. There’s also a lack of a reciprocal agreement between Cayman and the United States, she says.
There are certain myths that people will learn by reading the book, she explains. So what are they?
“That paying money will do nothing other than to put money in the pocket of the person who has care and responsibility – the custodial parent/guardian – of the child at the centre of attention. Believing that if money is paid, that is good enough and the person who has to pay should not worry about doing anything else to contribute to that child’s life.
“That children watch and learn, and one day it will all impact on that child, and may come back to haunt the person who refused or denied trying to monetarily or emotionally support that child. That world wide people care and countries are working hand-in-hand to get more for our children, who are the prime sufferers and victims,” she says.
Hopes are that this book can bring the issue back into the forefront of the minds of politicians and individuals alike, she says.
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