ABSTRACT
The Participator, as the name suggests, is eager to participate as fully as possible in pregnancy and later in primary childcare. Emotionally, a Participator may resent having to rely on his pregnant partner as an intermediary for information about his baby. The degree, to which the prospective father's behaviour will be tolerated and approved, depends largely on the dovetailing in their approach to the pregnancy of Participator and his mate. Likewise, a Facilitator mother may eagerly lap up her husband's cosseting attention to herself and her fetus. Whereas strict Renouncers were the norm during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, since the 1970's, distinctions between parents become less marked with each subsequent generation - and many fathers are Reciprocators. Nevertheless, being included in investigations and antenatal care makes the idea of an eventual baby more real and ultrasound imaging may serve as a watershed for all fathers, a major source of prenatal bonding.
