Anna Stoddard, 34, decided to uproot her family and move 5,000 away from her US home to Spain – the mum revealed why she needed her ex to come with her and her husband
A mum decided to move 5,000 miles away from her home but made the bold decision to bring both her husband and ex with her.
Anna Stoddard, 34, said she was desperate to leave the US, due to the political climate and increasing cost of living, so decided she would leave Arizona for Spain. The mum said her husband Matt, 32, was totally on board but feared her plan wouldn’t work if she didn’t bring her ex partner along too. Anna feared her move was a non-starter because she co-parents her four children, aged 14, 11, 8 and 6, with her ex-husband Josh Stoddard, 40.
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New husband Matt suggested she just ask Josh if he would be interested in joining them for a new life in Valencia and he shocked them all by agreeing. The blended family of seven are in the process of selling nearly everything they own to move in the next few months.
Anna, a molecular technologist and writer from Mesa, Arizona, said: “A big part of it is the political climate is a little unstable in the US. We had kind of started talking about potentially moving somewhere else.
“In April we got a notification that the property taxes and homeowners’ insurance was going up again. It went up last year to like $5,000 and was going to go up to $400 per month. We thought, we have to sell the house anyway so why not move?
“The idea of co-parenting from the other side of the world sounded miserable and I would never want to put my kids in the position of not seeing their dad regularly. So I reached out to my ex-husband and I was like, ‘How do you feel about moving to Europe?’
“I did not expect him to say yes but the worst he could do is say no. He came back a couple of days later and was like, ‘I think this would be really good for the kids'”.
Anna and husband Matt, a software engineer, found Spain appealed to them after its “slower pace of life” caught their attention through research and seeing others on social media who lived there.
Anna said: “The schooling is better over there as well. In Europe food is more regulated and less processed. The school days are shorter. They [the children] don’t have to worry about school shootings.
“I brought all this to my ex and he was like, ‘let me think on it’. He was like, ‘let’s do this’. First and foremost, we want our children to have a relationship with both parents. The whole thing was all of us move, or none of us do.”
Anna and her ex-husband will continue to lead separate lives and live apart, as they have done in the US. She said: “Commenters online have said, ‘Are you all living in the same house?’ We will be continuing to live apart.
“I wish more people are able to think about what is best for their kids and not being petty about giving their ex-partner what they’re wanting.” Anna has put her house in the US on the market and has hopes it will sell “with a couple of months” so they can move.
Anna’s ex-husband Josh said his “first instinct was to say ‘no'” when Anna asked him to join the family and move abroad. Josh said: “I wasn’t really keen on the idea of leaving my family – parents and siblings – and go to another country where I would not be able to visit them easily or take my kids over to spend time with their grandparents.
“But, after some time to really consider it, I realized that it could be a very good experience for my children. I can honestly say that I like Matt and think that Anna made a good choice with him.
“Most importantly though, my kids like him. They have only ever told me positive things about how he is with them and, including my own observations, he has always treated them well.”
