Guest commentary: A mother’s role in advancing shared parenting in Missouri

By Linda Reutzel

On this Mother’s Day, Missouri has much for which to be thankful. We became the fifth state to pass Shared Parenting legislation in 2023. Shared parenting advocates are pro-mom and dad! But they are especially pro-children!

Motherhood is a blessing to me, and I will readily admit that the challenges of working and nurturing children at home are hard to handle all the time. Of course, that’s the beauty of shared parenting, sharing those responsibilities. I have met so many women in the movement who are mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers and aunts. This movement couldn’t have had the success it’s had without women stepping up to the plate.

We all agree that the adversarial system of lopsided child custody orders is broken. It’s the system that needed fixing and with rebuttable presumption, we’ve taken a big step in fixing that system. Family courts should be family-friendly because divorce is not the end of the family; it’s just a rearranging of the family. We also all agree that children need and want great relationships with both parents and both extended families.