You're Double (by Find My Parent)

In this episode of You're Double Podcast, we speak to John Sichi, an American father of two children who were abducted to South Korea in 2019. In this episode. John shares more about the abduction, why his children have yet to be returned despite Hague rulings in favor of return, and what needs to change in South Korea.

Support John by signing his Change.org petition here

You may also be interested in reading some news articles that discuss John's case and protest:

Korea Herald

San Francisco Standard

Korea Times

Asian Boss YouTube Video

You can read more about John's story here and stay tuned in for the next episode with South Korean psychologist Dr. Mikang Song in the Korean language. You can also watch it with English subtitles on our YouTube channel.

Donna was a young mother looking forward to a bright future with her husband and young son. One day, that bright future turned into a dark nightmare when her husband whisked their son off to his native country, Pakistan, and announced that the young boy would remain there. Effectively kidnapped, the boy had no idea where his parents were nor the anguish his mother was going through. We are all led to believe that our government is there for us. Donna immediately went through "the system" of government help and found stone wall after stone wall. With no other choice, she took matters into her own hands. Donna tells a stirring and compelling story of clandestine meetings, tense moments with gun-toting Pakistani officials, and a lot of prayer. The happy ending reunites Donna with her son. Seeing my God part the sea, knowing faith opened every door along the way!

You can find Donna's book here

In this episode, we speak with Jodi Klugman-Rabb LMFT, LPC about her personal experiences with Parental Identity Discovery and her research in this field. Jodi is a San Francisco Bay Area psychotherapy practitioner and an Adjunct Professor at Dominican University.

Jodi shares her journey of learning about the true identity of her biological father - her struggles to connect and identify with previously hidden truths.  She also touches on her work with other individuals who have discovered a previously withheld biological parent.

This episode is a fascinating exploration of the complex dynamics of family life and hidden truths.

You can learn more about Jodi's work by visiting her website https://www.jkrabb.com/

In today’s episode, Astrid Johnson shares the story of how her two daughters were abducted to the United Arab Emirates while visiting their father on what was supposed be just a vacation. This was despite the fact that Astrid and her ex-husband had a very strong child custody agreement.

Listen as Astrid discusses the challenges she faces dealing with the State Department, especially with abduction to a non-Hague country. You can follow Astrid and her daughters’ story on her Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Astrids-Missing-Angels-103774065759631

Be sure to keep an eye out for our upcoming event on families who have reunited after abduction to the Middle East.

https://findmyparent.org/events/

In this episode, we speak with Jolly Bimbachi – the mother of two boys abducted from Canada to Lebanon in 2015. In this episode Jolly shares details of the abduction and how she has struggled to reunite with her children over the years, including when she tried to bring them back to Canada through Syria in 2017 only to be taken hostage by an al-Qaeda-affiliate militant group.

Jolly is a founding board member of the non-profit organization Return Our Children Home Canada. You can learn more about their work at https://returnourchildrenhome.ca/

Stay tuned for next week’s bonus episode of Jolly’s story in Arabic.

https://findmyparent.org/event/reuniting-with-children-abducted-to-japan/ This online event will be an interactive discussion with families who have been reunited after parental abduction to or in Japan. The panel will be made up of parents who have reunited with their children abducted to or in Japan as well as an international lawyer who has supported families with their children abducted to or in Japan. These families have reunited using various means including: local courts, Japanese courts as well as technology and will discuss this during the event. Participants will have chance to ask questions to the panel.

"This episode features Human Rights Lawyer Jessica Finelle of the Zimeray & Finelle law firm, headquartered in Paris with offices in London and Geneva.

Jessica has proven to be a fierce advocate for children abducted to Japan. In this episode she shares more about the complaint she files with the UN Human Rights Council against Japan for serious violations of children rights, as well as what she thinks needs to be done to end parental abduction in Japan, including actions that the French government should be taking.

To learn more about Jessica’s work you can visit https://www.zimerayfinelle.com/

Before you dive into today’s episode … have you signed FMP’s letter addressed to the US Ambassador as well as all other Ambassadors in Japan yet? Please do so by visiting our website. Don’t forget to share with your network! https://findmyparent.org/ambassador-emanuel-stand-up-for-american-children-abducted-in-japan/

You may also be interested in watching videos from FMP co-founder Vincent Fichot’s hunger strike that show how parental abduction in Japan is affecting all – mothers, father, children, Japanese and foreigners. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChQuZ9YDfgTRndvGDeRr1Gw/featured

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Noelle Hunter. Noelle and her daughter were victims of international parental abduction in 2011. Thankfully due to Noelle’s persistence and her strong support system, her daughter Muna was returned home to the US from Mali three years later.

In this episode, Noelle shares her story and what factors led to the return of her daughter home. She also discusses her advocacy work as president emeritus and co-founder of iStand Parent Network Inc as well as a Lecturer at The University of Alabama in Huntsville where she has taught classes on International Parental Abduction.

To find more out about iStand Parent Network, including its October 2022 conference, please visit. https://www.istandparentnetwork.com

In this episode of You’re Double, we welcome Lebanese Attorney and co-founder of IHOPE civil organization, Mohammed Ayouby. Mohammed explains the challenges surrounding parental abduction and the Hague Convention in countries with religious courts and how he was able to use the local justice system to get children returned home from Lebanon – a non-Hague country.

Mohammed also shares how he used his legal background and passion to found IHOPE – a civil organization for lobbying and campaigns, legal clinic and strategic studies concerning abduction and migration issues.

If you want to learn more about IHOPE work and read their latest newsletter issues, please visit www.ihope.world You can also reach Attorney Mohammed and the IHOPE team via whatsapp +961 3 060 681

If you have also been affected by parental abduction – anywhere in the world – please consider sharing details about your story via FMP’s website. This collection of data will be used to better lobby policymakers around the world to prioritize reform needed to end parental abduction.

Stay tuned next week for a great discussion with LBP and advocate Dr. Noelle Hunter who shared how we successfully got her daughter returned from Mali to the United States and is continuing to support child survivors (and parents) of parental abduction through her work with iStand Parent Network Inc.

In today’s bonus episode of You’re Double, we feature Japanese attorney at law Shuntaro Ogawa. Ogawa works at MIRAIO law firm founded in 2009 by attorney Kenshi Nishida. With the philosophy of "A Future for All," the firm provides legal services that give peace of mind to all people and companies. MIRAIO has handled numerous disputes, including debt settlement cases, hepatitis B lawsuits, divorce cases, and inheritance cases. To date, the company has consulted on more than 400,000 cases

In today’s episode, in Japanese, Ogawa speaks about what exactly custody means under the Japanese Civil Code and how it is decided when parents divorce.

Have you signed FMP’s letter addressed to the US Ambassador as well as all other Ambassadors in Japan yet? Please do so by visiting our website. Don’t forget to share with your network! https://findmyparent.org/ambassador-emanuel-stand-up-for-american-children-abducted-in-japan/

Stay tuned next week for another episode of You’re Double featuring Lebanese attorney Mohammed Ayouby who has been successful in navigating the complex religious courts in Lebanon to get numerous children returned to the US even though Lebanon is not a signatory of the Hague Convention.

In today’s episode of You’re Double, we host Claire Colbert founder and specialist mediator at Family Mediation & Mentoring in the UK.

With over 20 years’ experience as a specialist family lawyer, Claire discussed why she became a full-time mediator and why she so strongly advocates for mediation before court proceedings. If you want to learn more about what mediation is, how to approach mediation with your partner, child-inclusive mediation and the government voucher scheme in the UK that helps parents fund mediation, you will want to listen to this episode. To learn more about Claire’s work, please visit https://www.familymediationandmentoring.co.uk/

You can search for more UK-based mediators here. If you are not in the UK and are looking for a mediator (or any other professional support), do visit Find My Parent’s support directory. You can also download the free Parenting Through Separation Guide which Claire contributed to as her work on the Resolution Parenting After Parting committee.

You can search for more UK-based mediators here https://thefma.co.uk/

Find My Parent's support directory https://findmyparent.org/directory/

Parenting Through Separation Guide https://resolution.org.uk/parenting-through-separation/