A Man’s Biological Clock Ticks Too

Single parenting by choice isn’t just about women. There are a lot of men out there who are also ready to be parents and who are not in a relationship. We have all heard about a woman’s biological clock ticking away, leading them to craving a child, but apparently, some men also hear their clock ticking away. Can we blame them? Parenting is not for everyone, but for those who do want to raise a child, age can be a major factor.

For those who are willing to embark on the journey of parenthood alone, adoption is not always the answer. Different state laws can delay the process and at times, single parents, especially men, are not considered high-priority on the list of wannabe parents. A new MailOnline feature article discusses how some men are spending upwards of $150,000 on surrogacy procedures to become fathers. Some fascinating quotes pulled from the article are below.

‘They say they’ve always wanted to be a dad, they haven’t found a partner that they want to start a family with, they’re getting older and just don’t want to wait – the same things single women say,’ said Madeline Feingold, an Oakland, California, psychologist who has done extensive counseling related to surrogacy.

By the time the process is done, the aspiring father’s commitment is usually apparent, said Denise Bierly, a State College, Pennsylvania, attorney specializing in adoption and surrogacy law, ‘With men especially, the process gets so well thought through,’ she said. ‘They go into this having talked about it with their friends, relatives. There’s nothing spontaneous about it.’

‘Fathers on average are more involved in their children’s lives’ than in the past, said University of Florida sociologist William Marsiglio. ‘More fathers are identifying parenthood as a key dimension of who they want to be – not just being bread winner, but providing nurturing and caregiving.’

Diane Ehrensaft, a clinical psychologist in Oakland, California, says it’s an outdated myth that men lack the inherent ability to be as nurturing a parent as women. ‘The lack of warmth, attention and affection is what causes harm to children,’ she said. ‘No gender has a corner on the market for those three things.’