Whew!
Outer space, here we go.
Andy and Kaitlin are alienating me from my son.
They're trying to phase me out.
High five. As a mother.
Down low.
Too slow.
I am completely kept out of the loop.
You ready? Ready.
There we go.
I'm never informed of doctor's appointments
or when Avery's sick.
They've enrolled him in school
and then extracurricular activities without letting me know.
How was karate, baby?
Good.
I was never informed
about Avery having a preschool graduation.
According to our court order,
Andy and I are supposed to make those decisions together.
Avery and I did not spend Christmas together.
I was only able to FaceTime him for maybe five, 10 minutes.
Anytime I've asked Andy for visitation,
he claims that I'm too unstable.
The main excuse is that I'm a drug addict.
It's completely wrong.
I've offered to provide Andy and Caitlin drug tests.
I've offered them a nanny cam
that they can log into at any time
and they just don't want to deal with it
unless it is through the court.
They are using this as an excuse
to just keep Avery away from me.
It's hard because this is the most important time
in Avery's life and I should be involved,
I should have a say.
He has asked me why I'm not around.
He's asked me why I've gotten rid of him.
He's asked me when he can see me again.
Three.
I can't hear it.
It's awful.
I usually cry as soon as I get off the phone.
I'mma get you.
I never have and I never will pose danger to my son.
There you go.
I am a preschool teacher.
Other parents trust me with their children
and I don't understand why my own son's father
doesn't trust me with my child.
(dramatic music)
Well, due to COVID-19
and the strict protocols and guidelines
we have set in place
to protect our guests, myself, Robin, my staff,
we do not have a studio audience
and are not flying anyone to Los Angeles right now.
So joining us via Ionico from Virginia is Megan.
Megan, I'm glad to be talking to you.
Hi, Dr. Phil.
I'm glad to be here.
Thank you.
I think that the natural order of things
is for the parents of children
to be in those children's lives.
And so my goal here is to figure out
what the obstacles are for you
and to get you as much into your son's life
as is at all possible.
Why do you feel that you're not in your son's life
and why do you feel that you're actively
being phased out of your son's life?
Well, I know that Andy and Caitlyn
have claimed I'm a drug addict
and I'm too unstable to have Avery in my life.
And I just feel like the accusations aren't correct.
Okay, now you feel
like you shouldn't have to defend yourself as a mother
and you deserve to be with your son
because as I say, that's the natural order of things.
If a parent is a healthy parent
and is in the best interest of their son or their daughter,
then I feel like they should be
in that son or daughter's life.
Are you in the best interest of your son?
That's the only thing that I've ever been concerned about
is what's Avery's best interests.
And for you to be in your son's life,
is that in his best interest?
I absolutely think that it's in his best interest, yes.
Okay, and you say that you try
to at least FaceTime your son once a week,
but you're denied that right,
at least you say 40% of the time.
I would say probably 40% of the time
there's a reason or an excuse why I can't FaceTime Avery.
Okay, why is that?
I mean, obviously it makes common sense
for a mother to be in their child's life.
So why is there this opposition
to you having a relationship with him?
I honestly don't have any idea
why they're so opposed to having Avery be around me
or have us have a healthy relationship.
Is there some cruel vendetta leftover
because of the breakup between you and your ex?
If there is, we haven't discussed it.
I know that there has been some animosity at times,
but we haven't really discussed
any other reasoning other than a drug problem.
Okay, do you have a drug problem?
Absolutely not, I do not.
So you don't have an issue with drugs?
You're not a drug addict,
you're not controlled by drugs,
you're not spinning out with the instability
that you often see with someone that's addicted to drugs
who put drugs above everything else?
I am not addicted to drugs, no.
None of that comes before Avery.