Reply #89: In this case it is an Islamic thing

[lark]

This has been happening long before 9/11 to many women married to ex-pats from the Middle East. It happened to a woman that's a family friend. Great guy, good husband, fine with daughter not being raised Muslim, but when a son was born - everything changed. He took our friend and children for a "visit", his family totally turned him against his wife because she wasn't muslim. The girl got sick, he sent mom and daughter home, divorced her the day she left and kept the son. They told the son she and his sister died so he wouldn't try to contact her and she hasn't spoken to him or seen him since and it's been over 15 years. They play hard-ball over there!

One of my good friends married a non-religious Muslim. When they had their first baby they went to Morocco to see his family and they too tried to talk him into divorcing my friend and stealing the baby. His aunts and mom were horrible to my friend, it's totally obvious in the pictures. Luckily he was strong enough in his relationship that his fundamentalist family members couldn't sway him and they stayed with his dad who is also non-religious and had a wonderful visit.

Moral - be very careful if you marry a man who is an ex-pat Muslim.