Yesterday Drudge had a headline “Does Fatherhood begin at conception?” or something like that, linking to a speech by Barack Obama. I didn’t read the speech, but the headline made me think.
When does Fatherhood begin? Is it when life begins? Is it when the kid is born? Somewhere in between? Is it when the man decides to be in the child’s life?
I tend to think it’s when the man decides to be in the child’s life. While I would like to believe that once a man creates a child he has an obligation to that child for life, that’s not how we were designed as human beings. Fatherhood is clearly a choice. His job in creating life is over once he shows his O face. Contrast that with the role of a mom - we carry the kid around for nine months with swollen ankles and stretch marks, then have to feed the kid for however long the American Association of Pediatricians recommends. Dad can just walk away.
In the great planning of humanity, that’s how it was intended to be. Society has tried to institute socially acceptable standards of a father’s responsibility. But in the end, it’s still his choice.
What do you think?
Terry Says: March 6th, 2007 at 8:20 amSpeaking only for myself, and taking into consideration that I am as old as dirt (almost 61), I would like to express my experience. At the time I found out my wife was pregnant with our first child, I was stationed at an Army base in California, and she was back here in Oklahoma.
My first reaction was to walk over to the NCO club and get myself stinking drunk. And that was after having gone through a little over 3 years of the military WITHOUT drinking.
The next morning, I woke up with the expected headache and the sudden realization that I then had to insure that my wife received what she needed to be healthy and to give birth to a healthy child. In other words, my attitude changed from what would be pleasant for my wife and myself to an attitude that I now needed to always consider what was good and right for a family.
While I wasn’t “really” inclined to go back to college after separation from the Army, after hearing that I was going to be a father, I decided that my primary duty was to provide for my family and not consider what it was that I wanted. If there is anything in life that I wish I could change, it would be that. I now wish I had found SOME way to go back to college.
Phil Says: March 7th, 2007 at 8:33 pmYou don’t have to be a father to be a Dad. Fatherhood starts when you accept responsibility.
Liberal Avenger Says: March 8th, 2007 at 7:20 amThe Avenger has some experience in this area. Many centuries ago, on the distant planet Rooseveltan, the Avenger was “fathered” by a man he has never met. He was raised by his “Dad”, a fine and honorable man who once told The Avenger that he was one of the reasons this man married his mother. Thinking of this gets The Avenger misty. Must be a little dusty in this room.
LA
Terry Says: March 8th, 2007 at 8:44 amCouey….Convicted…..YES!!!
Mosquito Says: March 10th, 2007 at 10:11 pmAny man that can take another man’s child and raise them as his own, is someone special.