Court processes used to determine custody of children shared by parents who are no longer together use unrealistic and outdated expectations of mothers to make their decision, argues Professor Lara Feigel, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture in the Department of English.
In Custody: The Secret History of Mothers, Professor Feigel traces the history of custody cases from the 19th century to today in the UK, Europe and North America. Through the cases of seven women who fought for custody of their children, she shows how custody battles are often forgotten from history, despite representing a 200-year battleground between the patriarchy and feminism.
As research for the book, Professor Feigel sat in on family court hearings in England. She now suggests it would be preferable to resolve custody disputes outside of the courts, as the process increases animosity and tension, creating a winner and a loser. She does suggest though that the new Pathfinder courts, trialled since 2022, are a potentially healthier model.
Professor Feigel also proposes that shared custody does not always suit the needs of the child, instead potentially leaving them feeling unhomed in both homes.
It's exciting but also daunting when a project that you feel personally very strongly about also turns out to seem more and more important and urgent the more you find out about it. Researching custody across 200 years and three countries has been both thrilling as a journey of intellectual discovery and unsettling in what it's revealed about what progress has and has not brought to family life and our ideas of motherhood and care.
Professor Lara Feigel, Professor of Modern Literature and Culture
The evolution of custody cases
In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Professor Feigel highlighted how children were the property of their father in the 19th century, regardless of how involved they were in parenting. This meant that husbands were able to take children away from their wives in the case of divorce or separation.
One of the women featured in the book who experienced a custody battle in this era is Caroline Norton. After losing the case to her ex-husband, she campaigned to reform the law to further the rights of married women.
The other women featured in the book are George Sand, Elizabeth Packard, Frieda Lawrence (wife of D. H. Lawrence), Edna O'Brien, Alice Walker and Britney Spears. By focusing on these stories from across time periods, Professor Feigel shows what has - and hasn't - changed for women.
She also speaks to the children who have been the subject of custody battles who have lost out on the care and parenting they needed.
