Leslie and Andy were married for seven years, and Andy has primary custody of their 5-year-old son — though Leslie, who admits to having abused drugs, desperately hopes to one day have joint custody.
In the video above, Dr. Phil tells Andy, who wants their son to remain with him because he says Leslie is currently a bad influence on the child: “I’ll tell you one thing for absolute sure … You can win today in terms of having undivided loyalty and allegiance from your son, and it can turn out to be the biggest loss of your life. Because I will promise you, the day will come that that little boy will become a young man and he will say, ‘Why did I not have my mother in my life? And why, as my father, did you not do what was necessary for [my mother] to be in my life?’ What you want is for him to grow up one day and say, ‘You know, they got a divorce, and there were some real rough patches, but my father did what was necessary to make sure that I had a relationship with my mother. And that was critical in my upbringing, and I will forever be grateful to him for being a big enough man to do that for me.'”
Watch more about the couple’s accusations, including of stalking, drug use, and paranoia. And most importantly, hear Dr. Phil’s advice for how they can move forward without getting their child stuck in the middle.
Before You Go
