Bryan Iehl — Founder & Former President

Bryan Iehl is the founder and former president of IowaFathers, an organization dedicated to promoting meaningful relationships between children and both parents following divorce or separation.

Bryan’s advocacy began after experiencing a difficult custody battle involving his oldest daughter in 2001. That experience exposed him firsthand to the challenges parents can encounter in Iowa’s family court system and inspired him to advocate for reforms emphasizing the importance of both parents in a child’s life.

In 2003, Bryan founded IowaFathers. What began with a single member—Bryan himself—grew into an organization reaching thousands of parents and supporters across Iowa. During the organization’s early years, Bryan became actively involved in legislative efforts surrounding joint physical care, including the significant changes to Iowa’s joint physical care law enacted in 2004.

Research and Education

Bryan’s commitment to understanding the legal system eventually led him to earn a Master’s Degree in Legal Studies. In 2011, he conducted an extensive study examining child custody outcomes in Iowa. The research was undertaken to identify patterns and potential disparities within Iowa’s custody system and to provide data that could inform the continuing discussion surrounding custody policy and parental equality. The study became an important component of Bryan’s advocacy and has continued to be referenced in discussions concerning Iowa family law and custody outcomes.

Appellate Advocacy

Over the years, Bryan has also assisted with and contributed to numerous appellate matters involving Iowa family law. Among the cases in which he has taken particular interest are the Matt Weichers litigation, involving questions concerning judicial impartiality and recusal, and the Harry Whiteside litigation, involving contempt proceedings and the assessment of attorney fees.

These and other cases reinforced Bryan’s belief that parents must have meaningful and practical ways to seek enforcement of existing court orders and receive impartial consideration from Iowa’s courts.

Legislative and Public Advocacy

Bryan’s work has extended beyond individual cases.

He has written and spoken about family-law issues for years and has been published in newspapers, magazines, and other publications. His advocacy has brought him into discussions with attorneys, legislators, parents, and policymakers concerning child custody, shared parenting, and family-law reform.

His advocacy has also taken him to Washington, D.C., where he attended a congressional hearing and spoke about the importance of parental equality and maintaining meaningful relationships between children and both parents.

A Personal Commitment to Shared Parenting

For Bryan, shared parenting is more than a legislative or legal issue—it is deeply personal.

He has experienced two very different parenting arrangements with his daughters. His experience with the limited role traditionally associated with noncustodial parenting following the custody case involving his oldest daughter contrasts sharply with his experience sharing joint physical care of his youngest daughter.

Seeing firsthand the relationship he has been able to maintain with his youngest daughter—and observing her happiness and well-being—has strengthened his commitment to advocating for children to have meaningful relationships with both parents whenever it is safe and appropriate.

Bryan resides in West Des Moines, Iowa, where he shares joint physical care of his youngest daughter.

In 2017, Bryan married Kate Cannon, whom he describes as his rock and true soulmate. Kate has supported his continuing commitment to shared-parenting reform and has personally witnessed the positive role joint physical care can play in a child’s life.

Continuing the Mission

More than two decades after founding IowaFathers, Bryan remains committed to the principle that children should not unnecessarily lose meaningful access to a parent simply because their parents’ relationship has ended.

His long-term advocacy goal is the establishment in Iowa law of a rebuttable presumption of joint physical care, while preserving the ability of courts to depart from joint care when the individual circumstances of a child and family warrant a different arrangement.

What began in 2003 as one father’s response to his own experience has developed into a continuing effort to educate parents, participate in the legal and legislative process, and advocate for an Iowa family-law system that recognizes the importance of both parents in the lives of their children.