The War They Don't Tell You About

The War They Don't Tell You About

From Daddy Issues Podcast by Daniel Modern

January 28, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

Anthony shares his harrowing experiences with family court and custody battles, highlighting the challenges faced by fathers in the system.

Army veteran and father of two, Anthony has been fighting in family court since his second son was two years old. What he's been through reads like a horror story: 3 days a month of custody despite being present since birth, false domestic violence charges, child support orders in two different states for the same child, lawyers who refused his case, and a system that financially penalized him every time he asked for more time with his son. In this episode, Anthony pulls back the curtain on the reality of interstate custody battles, the weaponization of family court, and what it takes to survive when the system is designed to break you. From traveling between California and Idaho for years just to see his son, to going pro se when no lawyer would help him, to finally connecting with advocacy organizations fighting for equal shared parenting—Anthony's story is both heartbreaking and inspiring. He discusses the stark contrast between co-parenting his first son Christian in California (healthy 50/50 from birth) and the nightmare custody war over his second son Joaquin in Idaho (currently in year 8 of court battles). The difference? One mother who co-parents. One mother who…

People in this episode

Host: Daniel Modern

Guest: Anthony

Topics covered

  • family court
  • custody battles
  • parenting
  • interstate issues
  • advocacy
  • co-parenting

Keywords

  • family court
  • custody
  • parenting
  • advocacy
  • interstate battles
  • co-parenting
  • child support

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Americans for Equal Shared Parenting, Child Custody Task Force

Places: California, Idaho

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