A father fights for his son, and vows to never give up.

In March of 2007, Michael McCarty's 5-year-old son Liam McCarty was taken to his mother's native country, Italy, in the middle of a bitter child custody battle. Soon thereafter, an Italian court ruled that Liam's mom was an unfit parent.

But instead of being returned to his father, Liam was put into an Italian orphanage.

WHAT?

We asked attorney Ron Brot, who has handled many international abduction cases, for clarification. "According to the most recent media reports, the Italian courts are continuing to try and help Liam recover from what they think is psychological trauma," he explains. "Michael reports in his latest statement that Liam isn't doing well. Michael's lawyer in Italy says that Liam is troubled and the court has decided that Liam needs therapy. My prediction is that this child will be reunited with his father eventually -- the Italian courts says it will take a few months, or maybe a year. I know each moment this case is delayed feels like a century for Liam's dad."

Brot continues, "I've handled child abduction cases, and I know the profound sense of loss that Michael feels every time he walks by and sees his kid's picture, sees a toy, or has a memory -- that sense of loss is profound. But the good news for Michael is that he knows where his son is. I have two clients who have no idea where their children are -- they would give anything just to know where their children are and that they are safe. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, there are a river of tears flowing from parents crying for their children who were abducted by the other parent. It's a huge problem."

The Liam McCarty case reminds us a lot of David Goldman's fight for his son Sean. He has been trying to bring him home for more than five years. His ex-wife took their son on a vacation to Brazil (where she was originally born) and never returned.

She remarried, but died in 2008 during childbirth. Sean's stepfather has been petitioning the courts to keep Sean, now 9 years old, in Brazil, and so far the courts have let him.

Brot says that if you're worried your soon-to-be ex might abduct your child, there are some steps you can take:

- Beware of dual citizenships. These are a red flag that you may be dealing with a possible future abduction.

- During a divorce, if you run the table and make your spouse feel like they have nothing to lose, they may do the unthinkable because they have nothing to lose. If your spouse ever threatens to take your children, that threat cannot be taken lightly.

- Make sure you are using appropriate lawyers who will make sure the proper orders are issued -- such as an order that your spouse can't leave the state, for instance, or the country.

- Retain originals of your child's birth certificate and passport.

- Register your children into the U.S. Department of State Passport Services Lookout System. The registration will enable you to be contacted and informed if anyone applies for a new or replacement U.S. passport for your child. The system will also alert all national passport agencies and U.S. embassies and consulates abroad if a parent registers an objection to the issuance of a passport for the child.

- Have your local law-enforcement agency fingerprint your child. 

- There are many GPS tracking devices on the market now you can place in a child's backpack, or ones that are implanted in their shoes, that you may want to consider. "We're not to the point we're going to implant our children with microchips, but we do LoJack our cars ... aren't our children more important than our vehicles?," Brot asks.

Thanks to attorney Ron Brot for those great tips. Our hearts go out to both Michael and David, and we hope they are reunited with their sons very soon.