This country wants parents to stop abducting their own children | CNN

Anastasiya Minkova collapsed in shock when she arrived home from a trip last September to find that her husband had moved out and taken their two-year-old son. The US-Russian citizen is now fighting for custody of the child, who CNN is calling Ren to protect his identity. The last time Minkova saw Ren was six months ago – when they spent 30 minutes together, playing with toys at a children’s home, under the watchful eye of staff. “My son held onto me tightly and would not let go. He pressed his head against my chest, and it felt like he was relieved to finally see me,” Minkova told CNN. “When the time was up, I felt completely heartbroken.” The family had been living on Shikoku island in Japan – a country where, until a law change this April, only one parent could be considered a child’s legal guardian after divorce. That parent was typically the one living with the child, which encouraged lawyers to advise their clients to flee with their children before divorce proceedings – a practice that could be considered parental abduction in other countries, but wasn’t illegal in Japan, lawyers told CNN. “If a parent leaves the house with the children, it means the pa