ABSTRACT

It’s very easy for a man to father a child. “To father a child,” unlike “to mother a child,” typically refers to a biological act, and men today do not seem to have much of a problem in that regard. But it is difficult for a man to be a father. To be a father, rather than merely to father, means to give a child guidance, instruction, encouragement, care, and love. Fatherhood—the state of being a father—is declining to a remarkable degree because so many fathers no longer live with their biological children.