Samantha's Journey

by Nicole DiPadova
(philadelphia pa )

My daughter was born with Spina bifida a problem my ex felt he couldnt deal with so he left us. Samantha is now 6 years old and i have been fighting for child support for her for about 5 years. It is amazing how they tell you the law supports the mother. in our case it seem to protect her father more. with bench warrent after bench warrent this man walked around for years at a time untouched picked up and let go with out having to ever pay money. till one day i was so angrey and storm into the philadelphia court system demanding answer as to why. how can they let a deadbeat like this just keep getting away. Our child is disbled it is hard enough support a child with out special needs but to have one that is the cost is much much more. so many things i cant get because finacially it just isnt there. so we make due. Well this seem to have shaken it a bit and they finally picked him up and made him pay 500 wow really he owes over 15,000. now the man is in jail for something unrelated to support and will be there for some time so once again nothing. Im a working single mom of two wonderful children and we get by like so many americans. But when will the courts and rights work to our advantage. I can not even get lifts for my home to help my daughter because insurance dont cover and the goverment feels i make to much to assist me. it is hard to sum up our story in just 250 words. but here is part of samantha's journey. as you can see she is a great smart beautiful 6 year child with all the same dreams and hopes as any other child.