A father in Canada officially lost custody of his kids last Wednesday, and the “big” reason was his obesity.

The unnamed 38 year old father from Ottawa lost custody of his 5 and 6 year old special needs kids for – among other factors – being 360 pounds. The Royal Ottawa Hospital’s family court ruled that the father’s weight was, according to CANOE, the “key factor,” though his past marijuana use and violent outbursts were also considered.

According to the Superior Court Justice, the father’s “weight loss regime is itself a full-time job. So is parenting two high-needs children. One will inevitably have to give ground to the other.”

R&B singer Usher Raymond has been in the news this week because of a custody battle with his ex-wife, Tameka Foster Raymond. The Hotlanta Atlanta court battle began a couple of days ago, and hit its media frenzy pinnacle today when all news sources reported that Raymond cried while on the stand.

Raymond married Tameka Foster in 2007, and the couple divorced two years later. They have two children together; Usher Raymond V (4) and Naviyd Ely Raymond (3). Foster is seeking full custody of the children, and Raymond is looking to level out custody between the two parents.

Across the pond on Monday, the British government gave its official response to David Norgrove’s Family Justice Review. The review initially irritated father’s rights groups, who found the language excluding fathers in matters of divorce and dispute. The government’s response on Monday was a rejection of Norgrove’s suggestions, which in part, pleased fathers scared to be removed from their children’s lives.

It’s always hard for us to cover unfunny news on 8BitDad, but our commitment to reporting on fatherhood compels us to share a terrible story about Josh Powell – a Washington father that has apparently set his house on fire on Sunday, killing himself and his two children. This comes years after his wife not-so-mysteriously disappeared.

This tough-to-read story starts in 2009, when Josh’s wife, Susan Cox-Powell, disappeared. Josh was a suspect in her disappearance, and immediately moved his children from their home in Utah to Washington. And even up to last month, police in Utah were still attempting to find Susan Cox-Powell.

According to Irish Times, many fathers in Ireland are unaware that they have no “automatic right” to their own child’s custody and guardianship. And while married and happy relationships would never unearth this sort of lack of rights, the legal trouble comes to light when mothers abduct their kids. This difficult disparity is also illustrated by the statistic that one third of births in Ireland occur in unwed relationships.

To read some of the nitty gritty details, check out the Irish Times, sauced below.

Some Michigan fathers, along with lawyers and lawmakers are fighting a 55 year old law that binds a child conceived during a marriage to that marriage – even if the child was conceived outside of that marriage. Need a moment to sort that one out? Thought so.

The story’s made easier (?) to understand by the case of Daniel Quinn, who was living with Candace Beckwith for three years. Beckwith was still married to another man (but separated from him). Quinn and Beckwith conceived a child – Maeleigh.

Vikki Larson takes on the topics of divorced fathers and public perception on The Good Men Project. Have you ever noticed that married fathers get credit and praise, while divorced fathers are looked at as if there’s something wrong and creepy about them?

“The divorced father who shows up for his kids in meaningful and obvious ways, such as taking a daughter to a midday, midweek ballet class,” Larson says, “is still considered odd.”

Larson’s article is omg-level comprehensive – with stats about single dads and all sorts of related results from studies. Larson contends that mothers, who beg for the men in their lives to be involved with their children, need to stop demonizing the men they see who are in fact being great fathers. Larson also mentions that the perceptions need to change that all divorced men are “womanizers, cheaters and dead-beat dads.”

Check out the GMP article sauced below for a great article about the sort of cause-and-effect that divorced fathers deal with when continuing their roles as involved parents.