Forgotten Grandparents
This petition is for all grandparents that have raised, loved and developed a parent-child bond with their grandchild, only to have their lives turned upside down by having their grandchild(child) stolen from them. Let me start by saying, EVERY child should live with at least ONE LOVING parent. But, the facts are that in North Carolina alone, 135,158 children are living in grandparent-headed households. And 80,126 are living with grandparents WITHOUT either parent present. In cases where grandparents are granted kinship care of their grandchild/ children, they are held to the same standards as Foster Parents. The only difference is, we DO NOT get paid like foster parents. They use us. We take our grandchild/children in. We raise them, love them and before you know it, THIS IS YOUR CHILD! Then after years, the absent parent decides he/she wants to be a parent, for whatever reason. Next thing you know, YOUR child is snatced out of your arms and home. Your life is now destroyed.The worst part is the child wants to come home, but can't. If you are lucky, the child you once raised, may be able to see you once a month, in some cases not at all. Can someone PLEASE tell me how that is right. It seems N.C has no visitation rights for grandparents. It seems ALL the rights go to the parents. I understant parents should have rights, but, just because you made a baby, does NOT make you a parent. N.C seems to not care about what the child wants. What about the childs rights? To these children, their grandparents ARE their parents. We as grandparents step in to keep our grandchildren OUT of foster care and in return we are kicked aside. It is like we NEVER existed. Once a child reaches a certain age and they are already physically and emotionally attached to their grandparents, It only traumatizes the child to be removed from the only stable home they have ever known. They grow up feeling they don't belong anywhere. We as Americans need to focus more on the children and less on the parents. There have got to be new laws passed on grandparent visitation rights. The truth is, GRANDPARENTS ARE THE BACK BONE OF AMERICA. Without grandparents, none of us would be here. Grandparents deserve love and alot of respect, but when a grandparent raises a child, that grandparent is a PARENT and deserves ALL the rights that go alone with the title (PARENT.) PLEASE sign and help change the law that has already harmed so many children and their grandparents. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Thank You...
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