This is the sort of thing that makes my blood boil. It is either a terrible piece of reporting and there were other factors involved that have not been reported, or it is a terrible legal decision.
The essence of the story (as reported) is that a woman in Hertfordshire has lost custody of her two children because she was using an internet dating service, in spite of the fact that after the break-up of her marriage, she had given up her job to care for them full-time. This decision was made in spite of the fact that the father has had limited contact with the children since the break-up and does not get home from work until 7pm each night. Additionally, the social worker working on the case believes that the children should stay with their mother.
By that token, Marianne should have Kristi taken away from her because she met me through an internet dating service. Which is patently ridiculous.
How is meeting people online any different to meeting people in a bar? If this woman had left her children with a sitter twice a week to go clubbing and pubbing, would the judge have looked differently on her case because she was being more conventional? Is this woman condemned, therefore, to remain single for the rest of her life? It seems to me that the legal system needs to catch up with reality.