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Diane Ehrensaft, a clinical psychologist in Oakland, California, says it’s an outdated myth that men lack the inherent ability to be as nurturing a parent as women.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.’

We came across an article all about the importance of how a male figure interacts and plays with children, courtesy of a Disney owned site, Babble.com. The article is tailored towards father’s but since every family is different, we wanted to just put this out there for anyone to read and appreciate. Disney normally wouldn’t be the first place we would turn to for parenting tips or advice, but since there was a referenced study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we gave it a second read and found some fun points. When we post these “tips” or articles about parenting, our hope is not to convince you, teach you or tell you that this is the only way, but instead we hope to inform you, and hopefully inspire you in some way, shape or form. Most people reading our blogs are not parents yet, so these articles are truly meant to help paint a longterm perspective of what parenthood is all about. Read more about how male role figures interact differently with children below.

As fathers, we are built with unique gifts to offer our kids and, believe it or not, how we play with our children is one of them. Studies have shown that fathers play with their kids in ways different than their mothers, and the way fathers play can offer children lessons on behavior and important social skills. Rough-housing with the kids, a dad specialty, is not only good for giggles and laughs, but it gives kids an understanding of boundaries and self-control. They learn how far to take things, what’s “too far,” and how to manage their emotions. It’s in this playful spirit, this sense of adventure, that fathers contribute to their children’s well being.

That same sense of adventure is what challenges children to succeed, to take that extra step and venture into the unknown. The way we play with our kids encourages independence and pushes them to self-achievement. In fact, a 2001 study by the Department of Education showed that children with involved biological fathers were 43% more likely to get mostly A’s in school! How’s that for a positive impact? Read more here.

According to a new study conducted by Pew Research Center, the number of single dads in the US has risen dramatically since the 1960’s. But how is a single father defined? For the purposes of this research, a single father was determined to be a man who is not married as well as a man who doesn’t have a significant other living in their household. What the study found is that 1 in 4 single parents in the US is a single father. Many factors are responsible for the large number shift, but one is due to the fact of the decline in marriage. 41% of births in the US are now occurring outside of marriage. A quick Wall Street Journal clip about the study can be watched here: The Rise of Single Fathers

The number of single father households has increased about ninefold since 1960, from less than 300,000 to more than 2.6 million in 2011.1 In comparison, the number of single mother households increased more than fourfold during that time period, up to 8.6 million in 2011, from 1.9 million in 1960.

As a result, men make up a growing share of single parent householders.2 In 1960, about 14% of single parent households were headed by fathers, today almost one-quarter (24%) are.

There are some notable differences between single mothers and single fathers. Single fathers are more likely than single mothers to be living with a cohabiting partner (41% versus 16%). Single fathers, on average, have higher incomes than single mothers and are far less likely to be living at or below the poverty line—24% versus 43%. Single fathers are also somewhat less educated than single mothers, older and more likely to be white.

Compared with fathers heading households with two married parents, single dads are younger, less educated, less financially well-off and less likely to be white. To view the entire study, click here.