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intermittently afraid of a caregiver. Two
troubled attachments are then worse than
identifying one attachment to one caregiver.
8. There is no gender bias re: an infant’s
attachment formation.
9. There is some neuroscience that supports the
female brain as specifically designed to
increase attachment formation with an infant.
10. For family law practitioners, it is emphasized
that divorce or no divorce, the core
mechanisms of attachment must be
acknowledged. Regarding assessment
measures for attachment post separation,
they must be viewed as part of a
comprehensive clinical evaluation.
11. It would be best for family law practitioners to
refrain from getting caught up in the word
“attachment”. Rather, practitioners could
just describe what they mean, and identify
what appears relationally necessary for a
given child in a case-by-case manner.

It is important for family law practitioners to be aware
of the importance and centrality of attachment
relationships as related to child development.
Because we are all involved in some form of decision-
making and planning for children post-separation, it is
essential that we dedicate time to understand
attachment literature as it crosses into developmental
psychology, neuroscience, sociology, anthropology,
biology and ethology. We are at risk of misusing the
attachment literature to make decisions about
parenting schedules, residential care and relocation