OK, so this is about me, my daughter J and how I became a single dad.

J was born on 23rd July 2003. By then I had been with her mum for 4 years. Our relationship had become quite volatile by then, nothing physical but very verbal. My grandparents had died within 4 months of each other, my nan in Feb '03 and my grandad in June '03. Add mum being pregnant and hormonal, and I assumed we were going through a rough patch, but we'd figure it out. I was there at the birth and very, very happy at being a dad for the first time. However things went downhill when mum and baby J left hospital. We rowed constantly, the police kept getting called, and eventually mum was found not fit to look after Jessica.

By this time I'd put myself up as J's main carer. This meant jumping through several Family Court and Social Services hoops in order to prove myself capable. I took over as J's main carer when she was 1 year old, and was given full custody ( it's called a residence order here in the U.K. ) and given full parental responsibility.