Still Here

A father and his son walking together, symbolizing a struggle for parental rights. Text overlay highlights the father's ongoing efforts to maintain his relationship with his son, Dylan, age 7, after being denied court-ordered parenting time since January 21, 2024.

Still HereA Father’s Documented Fight to Stay in His Son’s Life


Dylan is 7 years old. His father has been denied court-ordered parenting time since January 21, 2024.

This series is the record of what that looks like — not in the abstract, but in real time. The emails. The court filings. The appointments he wasn’t told about. The therapy he didn’t know existed. The messages that go unanswered on Our Family Wizard while his words get monitored on Substack.

Parental alienation doesn’t always look like one dramatic act. It looks like a chain of omissions — medical, educational, legal — until a parent has been quietly removed from every channel of a child’s life. This series documents that chain as it happens.

Every installment is timestamped. Every claim is sourced. The record stands on its own.

Michael Phillips is Dylan’s father. He is not going anywhere.


Still Here is part of Father & Co.’s Investigations coverage. New installments publish as events warrant.


Installments

7,077 Messages. One Court Order. Years of No.

Our Family Wizard is a co-parenting platform documenting over 7,000 messages exchanged in a high-conflict custody case. The records reveal a consistent pattern of noncompliance with court orders, with one parent systematically excluding the other from important decisions and events regarding their child, highlighting significant communication breakdowns and avoidance.

She Wants Her Name Out of the Story. The First Amendment Has Something to Say About That.

Michael Phillips responds to Christina Avgerinos’s demands to remove her and their son’s names from his writings. He argues that such requests lack legal authority under First Amendment protections and highlights the broader implications for parental rights and press freedom. Phillips asserts his commitment to documenting his experiences as a father.

The Morning She Told Me to Stop Writing, She Also Told Me About the Therapy

Eight minutes separated two emails—one revealing months of undisclosed therapy, the other demanding silence. This is what parental exclusion actually looks like in real time.

I Wrote About My Son Yesterday. Today I Sent His Doctor a Letter.

When you can’t show up in person, you show up in writing. A father explains why documenting communication with his child’s doctor may matter more than most people realize in parental alienation cases.

Today Is Parental Alienation Awareness Day. My Son Is 7. I Haven’t Had Parenting Time Since He Was 4.

On Parental Alienation Awareness Day, Michael Phillips emphasizes the disconnect between awareness and effective enforcement in family courts. He shares his painful experience of estrangement from his son due to parental alienation, highlighting the damaging effects on children and advocating for serious legal action to uphold court-ordered parenting time.

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Father & Co. is an independent journalism and advocacy platform dedicated to rebuilding trust between parents, children, and the systems meant to protect them.
We report the stories others won’t—on family courts, child welfare, disability rights, and constitutional accountability.
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