This seems very unfair to me as I am a grandmother who was given the care of my grandson aged 3 months, for a year whilst social services went through the process of deciding if the child had been harmed or 'pink marks' reported on his leg and arm were in fact chicken pox! It turned out to be chicken pox but the whole process took a year to come to the conclusion there was no case to answer! I had, in all that time, had to supervise contact for my son and his wife and bring up the baby in the most difficult year of a baby's life, ie night feeds, teething, crying, sleepless nights and all the usual things that come with a new baby. At age 60 too! I also had care of my daughter in law's older child by a previous relationship. This boy was almost ferral in his behaviour. He would scream, have temper tantrums, could not be calmed down until he rececived chocolate, which I would not do just to appease him. His mother had brought him up single handed and he was a nightmare. At 3 yrs old he could not speak properly, could not be disciplined and needed professional behavioural theraphy and speech therapy. Why is it I was allowed to 'bond' with my grandson as if I were his mother, as I had no other help with him, yet now social services have closed their case and his mother has him back, I am prevented from seeing him? The case broke my son's marriage up and my son and I did everything for the baby all his life. We taught him his words, colours, numbers, to count, to speak well and he is a very calm, well behaved child with us. He laughs and even though he is not quite 3 yet he has a great personality and is very intelligent. With his mother however, he has massive temper tantrums, screams and thumps his head on walls and the floor! He is like a totally different child with his mother. He screams when his mother comes to take him home and when my son goes to collect him he runs into his arms and ignores his own mother. This is not normal. A child should be equally happy with either parent. He clearly loves his daddy and is afraid of his mother. I am very worried about his welfare as I have witnessed first hand my daughter abusing him in public, although when she realised I had seen her actions she tried to justify it by saying he had been a nuisance all morning and she had had enough! No one listens to my concerns. No one seems to care that my son is now being deprived of seeing his son. Why do these women get away with so much abuse without impunity? I cannot understand how social services gave her the child in the first place, because their own risk assessment states she is violent, aggressive, needs anger management therapy, has had three abortions, self harms, has attacked her own mother, has drink and drug abuse charges and has many mental issues. She is a compulsive liar and that is also well documented. She lied to social services, to the mediator, to her own solicitor, to the judge and has always lied about everything to my son and I. The risk assessment was a real eye opener to us. She makes proposals at court for contact but never complies with her own proposals. The judge has warned her on three occasions that she stands a real chance of imprisonment for contempt of court, but at the last hearing before Christmas, the judge said she could do no more and wiped her hands of the case! How is that right? If there are penalties for contempt of court they should be used. That might at least prevent all this heartache. As it is, my daughter in law has been given the message that she is untouchable and can do anything she likes with impunity.

It is saddening that there is no official law about grandparents rights. It can often be about family mediation and the parents agreeing that the grandparents can see their children after the divorce. If there is a genuine reason why the grandparents should be able to see their grandchildren, then there is a possibility of going down the legal route.