Tamika Fuller: I feel like Ludacris ripped my baby from me.

The financial challenges that she experienced:

What kind of mother gets her child taken away? I only cut back to working less hours following my maternity leave to ensure I had enough time to spend with my daughter the first year of her life. However it was this financial reasoning along with events that transpired twenty years ago in my teens that were the sole justifications used when issuing a decision. The retribution continued to roll in because apparently taking away my child wasn’t enough of a punishment. I was additionally denied assistance with lawyer fees and told that only her father could authorize what was uploaded of our daughter to my personal social media page. As I apologized to my friends and family for not being able to share imagery of the evolution of my child, I must admit I scratched my head trying to understand what Instagram censoring had to do with disparate income levels. Subsequently I now have no child, no First Amendment rights and I’m in debt to a tune of six figures.

Reports that she abandoned her eldest daughter:

Let’s be clear: I never abandoned my eldest daughter. I got pregnant with her when I was a senior in High School and she was raised by my family for a few years, as is the case in many families who pull together in times of need. In many African American homes, there is still very much a village mentality and the support system and love my child received is immeasurable. Still, I was placed in the position of having to defend myself when I have been a present, involved and loving mother for over a decade. My older daughter and I are in a great place but Chris and his attorneys made it seem as if I dropped her off on someone’s doorstep and never worried about her again.

Examples of other women who have had similar experiences:

Norma Mitchell, ex-wife of an R&B singer, has been locked in legal disputes with him over the custody arrangement for their daughter and something she said recently really resonated with me: “A lot of men with money and more power, especially with passive women, are using the legal system to abuse these women. Then they can point the finger and say, ‘Look at her, she’s crazy,’ because one day you just explode and can’t take it anymore.”

Plans to help other women in similar situations:

This experience has almost destroyed me, but I won’t let that happen. I also never want another woman to feel as alone and hunted as I’ve felt throughout this process, so I am starting a foundation for mothers who are in similar situations. I want to provide support for women who are pregnant and aren’t getting any help from the father of their child. I also plan to provide resources that will educate women on how to have a safe and healthy pregnancy while under seemingly insurmountable stress. My organization will guide low-income mothers to financial assistance as well. When this journey first started, I was only advocating for myself, now I feel compelled to provide a voice for the voiceless.

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