It's not all wrapped up yet, but a big gift is arriving for divorced dads who want equal time with their kids.
Launched in early May and already claiming a broad spectrum of members across the United States and Canada, a new advocacy group is determined to finally make equally shared parenting a reality.
These aren't a bunch of guys. Every member is a woman.
Leading Women for Shared Parenting (www.lw4sp.org), founded in May in Massachusetts, will launch officially on Father's Day. Many members aren't waiting.
Paulette MacDonald, former president of the Canadian Equal Parenting Council, is throwing a launch party June 11 in Toronto, bringing in experts on family law to speak to the benefits of having mom and dad play equal roles in children's lives post-divorce.
Members, who include congresswomen on both sides of the aisle, social workers, professors, family lawyers, domestic abuse experts, grandmothers and daughters raised by loving dads, say the only way to finally turn the corner on this long-brewing "fathers' issue" is for women to step up and fight on their behalf.
"There has been no platform from which women can voice their opinion," said Terry Brennan, a divorced father in Massachusetts who suggested the idea to a few female colleagues, then stepped out of the way.
"If you look at history, no group involved in any kind of struggle can affect change on their own," Brennan said. "When women start to add their voice to this, it will get done."