Olympian Bode Miller Opens Up About "Brutal" Custody Battle for Son Nate, 9 Months

[fgg]

Exclusive: Bode Miller Opens Up About "Brutal" Custody Battle for Son Nate, 9 Months

Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller opens up about the "brutal" custody battle (with former fling Sara McKenna) for his 9-month-old son, Nate, in the new issue of Us WeeklyCredit: Chip Kalback

As America's most decorated Alpine skier, Bode Miller has tackled some incredible heights and near-impossible terrain. But his steepest challenge yet is the one he faces now in court.

For the last year, the 36-year-old athlete and his wife, Morgan, have been fighting for joint custody of Nate, his 9-month-old son with ex-Marine Sara McKenna. Now, in the new issue of Us Weekly, he's opening up about the "brutal" battle for his little boy.

"Nate is such a cool kid," the San Diego-based dad tells Us. (He also has a 5-year-old daughter, Dace, from a previous relationship.) "He deserves every ounce of fight we have."

That said, it hasn't been easy. "It's been brutal," he shares. "It's so easy to get negative about it, but when you see him, everything shifts. I just want to make sure he has the opportunity to live a great life."

Miller -- who won Olympic gold at the 2010 Vancouver games -- has lived quite a life himself. And though he admits he has some regrets about his previously wild ways, he says his "mistakes" have made him a better person. He's currently training for the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014 and is in top form again.

Read more: Bode Miller Talks Custody Battle for Son Nate, Olympics Comeback - Us Weekly

Bode Miller in custody battle over infant son

A short-live romance has led to a custody battle for US ski star Bode Miller.

Bode Miller lost temporary custody of his infant son Monday, but holds out hope he'll get permission to bring the 9-month-old to Sochi in February for the Winter Olympics.

A Manhattan family court ordered the champion skier and five-time Olympic medalist to hand over Samuel Bode Miller McKenna to Sara McKenna, whom Miller briefly dated last year in California.

McKenna lost custody in September when a court ruled she should not have left California while pregnant, but an appeals court overturned that decision last month, leading to Monday's reunion.

The reunion was emotional for mother and son, according to the New York Post, which says McKenna told Samuel "I missed you!" The tyke then reportedly grabbed her hair and said "Ma ma."

"I'm happy to have him back now. He's got a tooth and he can crawl. I didn'€™t know," McKenna went on to say.

Monday's ruling gives McKenna custody until at least Dec. 9, the next court date for the pair in the ongoing battle.

Speaking of battles, not only can they not agree on custody, but they can't even agree on a name -- with Miller calling him Nathaniel.

http://msn.foxsports.com/buzzer/stor...ant-son-112613

this poor baby! each of the parents call him something different. i hope they figure this out before they royally screw him up.

[witchcurlgirl]

Bode Miller custody case becomes women's-rights cause



New York --
When Olympic skier Bode Miller handed his infant son to the baby's mother in a courtroom this week, she was handed a victory - for now - in a case that became a rallying point for women's-rights advocates.

Former Marine and firefighter Sara McKenna was looking to enhance her career opportunities and her unborn son's future, by her account, when she moved last winter from Miller's home state of California to New York to go to Columbia University.

But a New York judge this May called her move "irresponsible" and "reprehensible," deeming that McKenna's move was less about bettering herself than about bettering her position in the legal dispute. That set off alarms among women's groups and civil libertarians, who said the ruling wiped away pregnant women's rights to make decisions as basic as where to live.

That ruling was reversed this month, and the 9-month-old boy is with McKenna at least until a Dec. 9 hearing.

McKenna "is absolutely thrilled and relieved" by the developments, her lawyers say, and her advocates are delighted by the broader legal message. The reversal "unequivocally affirms a pregnant woman's right to travel, relocate and benefit from equal protection while making life choices without interference from presumptive fathers or the government," attorney Naved Amed said. His firm, Amed Marzano & Sediva PLLC, is representing McKenna for free.

"The best present I could ask for was next to me when I woke up," she tweeted Tuesday, her birthday.

Miller's lawyers say he never wanted to prevent McKenna from moving and is just pursuing involvement in his child's life. "She had the right to make any life choice she makes, but her life choice impacted her child because he's now 3,000 miles away from his father," said one of his lawyers, Jill Zuccardy.

The case has become a commentators' conversation piece. To Slate magazine editor Emily Bazelon, it's a sign - of fathers' rights taken "way too far, to the point of dangerousness." To Barbara Walters on ABC's "The View," it shows "that fathers are interested." Legal experts, meanwhile, say the case highlights the complexities of custody when parents move far from each other.

"You could say that as much as it is about women's rights and their autonomy ... at the same time, there's a countervailing interest of the father's rights and the father's access to the child," said Kevin Noble Maillard, a Syracuse University law professor who has written a book about nontraditional families.

McKenna, 28, had finished military service and was a civilian firefighter at the Camp Pendleton Marine base when she and the alpine skiing gold medalist had a brief relationship in 2012, according to court papers and interviews she has given.

McKenna has said Miller, 36, initially indicated he didn't want a role in their child's life. During McKenna's pregnancy, he married professional and former Cal volleyball player Morgan Beck after a quick courtship, and he has a 5-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. But the skier filed papers claiming paternity in the San Diego County Superior Court's Family Court section in November 2012.

By then, McKenna had decided her risky job wasn't conducive to pregnancy or parenting, and she was aiming to finish her college education at Columbia. The school and New York state offered appealing financial and other support for veterans, according to court papers filed on McKenna's behalf. She started classes in January and gave birth in New York in February.


Bode Miller custody case becomes women's-rights cause - SFGate

[sluce]

When she told him she was pregnant he told her he would pay support if court ordered, but wanted nothing to do with the kid. While she was pregnant, making plans to better her life by getting a education for new career, he met Morgan and quickly married. Then all of the sudden he wanted to be a Dad to the kid he didn't want and lawyered up. She made it clear she moved to NYC to attend Columbia over schools in Cali because they gave her a great scholarship package as a vet.

[MohandasKGanja]

When she told him she was pregnant he told her he would pay support if court ordered, but wanted nothing to do with the kid. While she was pregnant, making plans to better her life but getting a education for new career, he met Morgan and quickly married. Then all of the sudden he wanted to be a Dad to the kid he didn't want and lawyered up. She made it clear she moved to NYC to attend Columbia over schools in Cali because they gave her a great scholarship package as a vet.

I've sort of skimmed this story off and on. But he basically gave a pass on his son early on and then changed his mind. In one sense - it's great that he changed his mind and wants to be involved. Normally, that would only benefit the child. But to actively try to interfere with the mom going to a great school and improve her prospects for being a mom, provider, etc.? If you are a caring dad, you should want the mother of your child to improve herself, and consequently, improve the life of the kid. He sounds like he crashed into one too many slalom gates or something.

[ManxMouse]

He's a complete cunt and 100% in the wrong here.
By the way, when she invited him to an ultrasound at 7mths pg, he declined, saying it was her choice to continue the pregnancy, not his. Now, apparently his wife who he's known for a super-short amount of time is all involved in trying to get that kid for themselves too, after they had a miscarriage. They have the means and opportunity to travel anywhere, which they do for other events, in order to see the kid, yet they fuck over the single mom to make her stay in Cali. It's all kinds of fucked up

[CL**]

I do not like this guy one bit.

He didn't want anything to do with the child until he quickly met, married and impregnated another woman. She lost her baby and suddenly they now wanted this other son. They're both jerks. I'm sorry they lost their baby but that's not an excuse to now put this other woman and child through all of this legal mess.

[JWL]

What a prick. Next time wrap up you jerk.

[MohandasKGanja]

People who interfere with their baby mama's lives should now be called "busy Bodes".

[JWL]

He's a complete cunt and 100% in the wrong here.
By the way, when she invited him to an ultrasound at 7mths pg, he declined, saying it was her choice to continue the pregnancy, not his. Now, apparently his wife who he's known for a super-short amount of time is all involved in trying to get that kid for themselves too, after they had a miscarriage. They have the means and opportunity to travel anywhere, which they do for other events, in order to see the kid, yet they fuck over the single mom to make her stay in Cali. It's all kinds of fucked up

The fact that he is even calling the child a different name shows he is not very concerned about this child, he seems to only be concerned about the win; that is just so messed up and is only going to hurt the child when he starts to understand. His wife sounds like an asshole too, considering he didn't seem to want a relationship at all with this child until he got married. Again, what a prick.

[Charmed Hour]

I'm on the fence about this one. His actions prior to birth suck. However, in all custody agreements I know of first hand in NY- the custodial parent cannot move more than 50 miles without the written consent of the non-custodial parent. I don't doubt part of the mother's decision to move was the NYS family court system factored in. NY is notoriously sided towards the mother, many times to the detriment of not only the father but the kids. I could write a book about my one brother's $60,000 custody fight. (And its ongoing)

That being said, he has the means (I would think) to travel wherever his son may be with his mother. On the other hand, being 3,000 miles away creates issues with frequent visitation and co-parenting. I think both parents in this case need to be a little more flexible.

[ManxMouse]

I'm on the fence about this one. His actions prior to birth suck. However, in all custody agreements I know of first hand in NY- the custodial parent cannot move more than 50 miles without the written consent of the non-custodial parent. I don't doubt part of the mother's decision to move was the NYS family court system factored in. NY is notoriously sided towards the mother, many times to the detriment of not only the father but the kids. I could write a book about my one brother's $60,000 custody fight. (And its ongoing)

That being said, he has the means (I would think) to travel wherever his son may be with his mother. On the other hand, being 3,000 miles away creates issues with frequent visitation and co-parenting. I think both parents in this case need to be a little more flexible.

But she got a scholarship to Columbia (great school), based on her being a veteran, and who knows how much earlier she'd applied for it before that went through. Plus, her previous actions of inviting him to her ultrasound and such don't scream "I'm trying to screw you over on visitation/cut you out of his life."

[sputnik]

i'd never heard of this case and i'd barely even heard of this guy but he sounds like a fucking asshole.
and the name thing? are you fucking serious? when she was 7 months pregnant, he still wanted nothing to do with the kid and all of a sudden he wants the kid and he wants to name him and stop the kid's mother from going to school? eat shit and die.
i might feel differently if he'd been less of an asshole from the beginning but as it is, i have no sympathy. poor kid.

[Shinola]

I'm on the fence about this one. His actions prior to birth suck. However, in all custody agreements I know of first hand in NY- the custodial parent cannot move more than 50 miles without the written consent of the non-custodial parent. I don't doubt part of the mother's decision to move was the NYS family court system factored in. NY is notoriously sided towards the mother, many times to the detriment of not only the father but the kids. I could write a book about my one brother's $60,000 custody fight. (And its ongoing)

That being said, he has the means (I would think) to travel wherever his son may be with his mother. On the other hand, being 3,000 miles away creates issues with frequent visitation and co-parenting. I think both parents in this case need to be a little more flexible.

Not everyone knows the differences between states' family law systems, esp not until they have been through the system already. And Miller brought this action in California. There is a time window to basically bring back a parent who moved away to the original state of residence, not sure how long in California. It takes time to establish residence in the new state, plus as she is a student it's not even clear to me whether she can have NY state residence, and I'm too lazy to look it up.

So it sounds to me like she didn't think about all this legal stuff in advance, and she may not have had any indication from Miller that he would pursue any legal actions. I'll bet ... um 20 bucks ... she didn't even consult a lawyer before moving to NY.

[Kittylady]

I suppose she didn't think that she HAD to consult a lawyer seeing as though he'd shown no interest until wifey got involved.

[sluce]

^Exactly. She gave no thought to custody laws by state. She had applied to Columbia, got accepted and got great scholarship offer, all while he was saying he wanted NOTHING to do with this child. Instead of lawyering up and viewing her child as a meal ticket for the next 18 years, she chose to get better educated. Her goal is to pursue a career that will enable her to be a better parent and provider. I have no doubt that she would have made different decisions if he had been supportive of her through the pregnancy and indicated that this child was important to him.

Calling the child a different name is unforgiveable and shows a lack of respect for his child and his child's mother.

The judge is an asshole too.