Daughter has child with Moroccan man

Submitted by Cheryl (United States), Sep 10, 2019 at 06:39

Two years ago my daughter who was 39 years at the time, became involved (online) with a 22 year old Moroccan Muslim man. She sold all of her belongings and went to Morocco to be with this young man. For some reason, don't know why, his application for a US Visa was denied. My daughter came back from Morocco a few months later, pregnant. They were not legally married. I and other members of my family helped her in any way we could. I was there for her 3-day induced labor. She had a baby boy who is now 15 months old and the absolute joy of my life.

My daughter has kept in constant contact with the baby's father, and really believes that they have a future together. After my grandson turned 1 year old, she started being blasted with emails from the family of her child's father. The same family that couldn't be bothered even once to ask for a photo of the baby or ask how she or the baby was doing. Now, they want her to bring my Grandson over for an extended visit.

I am very afraid for my daughter and grandson. Immigration for the young man to the US isn't working out how they planned, and she says she wants her "husband" as she calls him, and his family to know their grandson, nephew etc. She also romanticizes her time in Morocco with her young man. I'm worried that she will find that living over there with her son will be very different from the time she had before the baby was born. And I'm worried that the young man's family will try to keep my grandson. They are traditional Muslims. Not radical, but still pretty strict. They observe prayers, dress codes, holidays, etc. My daughter is not Muslim and has no intention of converting. She is also a methadone patient. The young man's sister, who is relatively well off, is who they will be staying with.

I am worried that the sister will try to keep the baby because she can prove by Islamic standards that my daughter is an unfit mother, and she has the means to take care of my Grandson and she is an upstanding Muslim member of the baby's "family" over there. Am I worrying for nothing? Will my daughter, a non Muslim US citizen have any rights at all? Is there anything that I can do about this? If she goes, I am dreadfully afraid that I will never see my grandson again.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".