'There’s something missing in my life’: non-fatherhood on Fathers Day

Hadley, Robin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4254-7648 (2018) 'There’s something missing in my life’: non-fatherhood on Fathers Day. Centre For Reproduction Research Blog.

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Abstract

Almost every country in the world holds some form of national celebration to acknowledge the roles that Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents play in the lives of their loved ones. In the United Kingdom, ‘Father’s Day’ is on Sunday 17th June and on this day many men who perform the role of ‘father’ will receive cards and presents in thanks and celebration for their fathering activities. For a significant minority of men however, Father’s Day has a different meaning. Unlike women, a man’s fertility history is not recorded at the registration of a birth, as a result it is difficult to access precise figures about the rate of male childlessness in the UK. However, estimates suggest that around 25% of the UK adult male population is biologically childless which is approximately 5% more than the population of childless women. Childlessness is most often associated with women and, despite the growing numbers of women who remain voluntary childless, these women are still often subject to a range of responses from sympathy to hostility, suspicion and even aggression. For men however, the range of responses are more limited and often delivered covertly.