Our Research Team
Our three team members have interviewed over 400 legal professionals and parenting experts.
Combined, we have more than 20 years of experience researching child custody and co-parenting.
We write our own articles — no AI. Our goal is to provide clear information to help parents ensure the best possible future for their children.
Shea Drefs: Managing Editor Joined July 2018
Shea graduated summa cum laude from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. She also completed postgraduate study at St. Mary's University in London. She formerly reported for Arizona's largest newspaper.
At Custody X Change, she leads the research and writing team. She frequently teaches legal education classes based on her years of child custody research. As a mother, she brings a parent's perspective to her work.
She lives 15 minutes from the U.S.-Mexico border and loves the frequent Spanish practice.
Zarira Love: Senior Writer / Researcher Joined March 2019
Zarira is a writer from Western New York. She has published work online, in print, and served as a fiction editor for her alma mater's literary journal.
She has researched and written about child custody in over 20 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces. Her work extends to the topic of divorce, writing articles for The Divorce Magazine (UK) and Mediate.com. In addition, she has moderated usability studies, interacting directly with Custody X Change users to find ways to enhance the user experience.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from SUNY Purchase College. Her hobbies include reading, listening to music, and watching mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.
Tucker Lieberman: Senior Writer / Researcher Joined Nov 2021
Tucker has researched and written about child custody in 15 U.S. states. He studied philosophy, completed a graduate degree in journalism at Boston University, and worked for a decade in user experience for a financial company.
He published a bilingual collection of poetry about loss, reads memoirs submitted to Split/Lip Press and trained as a life coach.
Originally from Boston, he lives in Bogotá, Colombia.
Research methods
We strive for the utmost accuracy.
Here's how we do it:
- We interview professionals: lawyers, judges, psychologists, etc.
- We read the laws.
- We dig through publications from governments and legal aid societies.
- We speak with and survey parents.
- We have experts fact-check our work.