"As if We Died Before Our Time"

Of all the victims of divorce or separation, paternal grandparents get the least attention. With European courts tending to side with mothers in custody and visitation battles, paternal grandparents often find themselves dealing with two tragedies — when their sons are cut off from their children, they too are cut off from the most important people in their lives. For Roman grandmother Irene Rinaldi, 72, the sadness is doubled: two of her sons are separated from their former partners and have little access to their children. This means Rinaldi is estranged from both of her families. By discriminating against dads in...