Some Terminally Ill Parents Avoid Custody Planning (Reuters Health)
By Charnicia E. Huggins
Originally published by Reuters Health, June 12, 2001
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Many terminally ill cancer patients, particularly single parents, do not make plans for who will care for their children, according to the results of a new study. And avoidance of the issue may lead to unnecessary upset and confusion, findings suggest.
"Clearly, there needs to be improvement in the development of the custody plans,'' study author Dr. Kerry J. Rodabaugh of the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center in Columbia told Reuters Health. "We feel strongly that if this issue can be resolved while the parent is still living, that this will improve the quality of life, not only for the patient with the terminal illness, but for the entire family.''
A study of 10 cancer patients and their 20 children revealed that in 40% of cases, child custody was granted to individuals to whom the deceased parents were "adamantly opposed,'' Rodabaugh and colleagues report in a recent issue of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Seven patients made either verbal or formal custody plans for their children, but for two the plans fell through, the report indicates. Further, nine of the children, who ranged in age from 3 to 20, were unaware of who would care for them after their parent's death.
In one instance, a mother died without making any custody plans for her child, despite having discussed it during treatment with a healthcare provider. Upon her death, her 7-year-old daughter became suicidal after she was sent to live with her biological father, whom she had never met.
In another example, one mother's arrangement for her three children to be cared for by their biological father resulted in a custody battle between the biological father and the children's stepfather. The children were unaware of the custody plans made prior to their mother's death.
"We documented a great deal of stress on the part of the children in this study regarding the custody plans that had been developed for them, often without their knowledge,'' Rodabaugh said.
Patients often resist the idea of custody planning, the report indicates. Choosing to focus on living and getting treated for their disease, many avoid the idea that they may die while their children are still young. "The eventual outcome of their illness, however, is not changed by these avoidance patterns,'' the authors write.
"This is an area of … terminal care that needs to be brought to every caregiver's attention,'' according to Rodabaugh.
