"Does anyone get through life without "a great deal of emotional turmoil"? "

I wondered if you'd say that or not.

I didn't think you would though as up till that point you had demonstrated what appeared to be a good understanding of what "the interests of the child" meant.

The key factors for CAFCASS (the british courts child welfare office) and the eggheads responsible for the same approach being applied in the US and Europe, beyond ensuring a roof and food and no risk to the childs safety, have to do with the childs emotional development.

Having a strong stable and honest family history are essentiial parts of growing up psychologically stable and confident enough to function in the world.

Even as an adult, discovering that your upbringing was based on a lie can massively undermine all that stuff with serious consequences.

It was not essential that the mother make the non-father liable for the daughters upbringing, so it hardly constitutes doing the "best she could for her, in the circumstances".

Which incidentally are about as wild assumptions as it is possible to make.

1. that the daughter would react like that and

2. that that was the mothers thinking.

I thought you were keen to stop people making assumptions and to stick to the information given.

hmmm?