How many American children have cut contact with their parents?

UNHAPPILY MARRIED for many years, Peter (not his real name) waited until his children were grown up before he divorced their mother. He hoped this would make the experience less upsetting for them. Yet in the six years since, he has not seen either of his two sons. He speaks to the younger one, who is in his 20s, once or twice a year; the eldest, in his 30s, has cut off all contact. His middle child, a daughter, has at times tried to act as go-between, an experience she has found distressing. “For me it has been completely devastating,” he says. “I get on with my life, but I get teary when I think about them.” Losing contact with children is like bereavement, he says, but with the painful tug of hope that they might one day be reconciled.