Section 97 of the Children Act 1989

I am currently going through a divorce and am being prevented from contacting my child by my stbx.

I would like to start a website/blog about my experiences since splitting from my stbx, including the details of the attempts I am making to stay in contact with my child.

My question is, if the case does not go to court (I don't put in a C100), can I put pictures of myself and my child and include their name on the blog?

To rephrase, does the Children Act 1989 only cover children who are the subject of a court case or is it any child under 18?

Welcome to Wikivorce.

S97 only applies to those children who are subject to court proceedings.

You are very welcome to blog here and write forum post on an anonymous basis (ie no naming of your children or ex etc).

The problem with going openly public about your situation and naming those involved is that this may well have a negative effect on attempts to come to an agreement as your perception as displayed on your public blog may well influence how your ex approaches the discussions - ie if you sound off about her or write about her negatively and she reads what you've written about her.

There is also the impact this may have on your children - you would be putting them openly into the public arena and identifying them. This could lead to peer issues, not to mention that campaigners with an agenda could make use of your blog to further thier own agenda and thus exploiting your children. Sadly I've seen this happens far too many times.

Writing down your experiences is an excellent idea and will most likely be extremely cathartic as well as providing you with a detailed chronology of this part of your life. As I said earlier you are very welcome to blog here on an anonymous basis.

Thank you, that is a very helpful reply.

It is easy when emotions are running high to make bad decisions, so I'll blog without names or photos.

I'd be interested in reading your blog