A Battle to Save a Marriage

"GMA" follows a couple through counseling to ward off divorce.

ByABC News via logo
March 3, 2009, 8:52 PM

March 4, 2009 — -- For Kathryn and Heath, a couple married for 12 years, what once seemed like an unbreakable bond now teeters on the brink of dissolution. They have found themselves at a crossroads in their marriage that very well could lead to a divorce.

The pair have an 11-year-old son along with the two teenage daughters Kathryn has from a previous marriage.

Blending the family always has been a point of conflict for the pair, but Heath's extramarital affair, which he said is long over, and financial stresses have strained an already fragile union.

Three weeks ago Heath moved out and now the two hope family therapist Terry Real can help them save their marriage. "Good Morning America" followed them through the counselling sessions.

Though the couple didn't ask for their last names to be withheld, ABC News has not released them in order to protect the pair's privacy.

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"I'm fearful of a lot of things that have happened in our relationship in the past," Kathryn said during a counseling session. "When Heath isn't happy, he'll look to other women."

"What I know of is he had one affair, which was more lengthy, that was earlier on. And then recently over this past fall he started going out after work every night and not coming home and I saw some e-mails to another woman," Kathryn said.

The woman sent topless photos to Heath, but he said infidelity is not the reason he moved out of their home. Heath blames his strained relationship with Kathryn's daughter Coco.

He said he believes the girl's behavior is "out of control."

"Coco was out of control screaming, yelling, pushing, slamming doors, breaking things. I believe Coco tried to push Kathryn down the stairs," he said. "I tried to restrain her. She like rips right out of her clothes."

Signs of trouble with Coco started almost immediately after their wedding, according to Heath.

"Kathryn and I have never been on a honeymoon. We went to the hotel in town where we live. A friend gave us a room after the reception [and Kathryn's] daughter showed up at the hotel," he said. "There is no control over Coco."