Insight: June 7

This week, Insight explores this great parenting taboo: why does a mother choose to leave her children and what effect does that have?

While mothers who leave are rare, some of Australia’s most high-profile people have had their lives shaped by this event. Our own Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull was abandoned by his mother at 10 and he, and his closest relatives, say that experience more than any other shaped him.

The program investigates the complex reasons that cause women to walk away from family life including mental health issues, ambition, bitter custody battles and personal freedom.

Host Jenny Brockie speaks to these mothers about their difficult decision, and why they felt it was the best choice for their families. She will hear from the children left behind about the pain of abandonment, and look at whether the mother/child relationship can be repaired after the trauma of separation.

Guests include:

Kristal Kinsela
“I wake up every day and I think to myself, have I done the right thing? I worry what people think of me as a woman and as a mother.”

Mazuin Claude
“I didn’t want to cause them any harm. I felt like I was actually going to ruin their childhood if I had stayed with them any longer.”

Melissa Collins
“I think I left for me. And that plagues me, I still deal with the grief and guilt on that.”

Richard Glover
“My mother ran off with my English teacher who she met at parent/teacher interview, which somehow makes it worse.”

Teigan Reid
“It was just easier to say that she had passed away because it was easier than explaining that she had left.”

Tuesdays at 8.30pm on SBS.