Roman law: mother certain, father is whom vows show
A father is a child's male parent—biological via sex or donation, legal, social, or step through marriage. Roman jurists quipped that motherhood is always certain while marriage points to the father. UNICEF now praises positive parenting that builds healthy developmental climates.
The labels multiply. A putative father is a man whose biological link is claimed but unproven, and a biological father who does not raise a child can still owe support payments. An adoptive father becomes a parent through the courts, whereas a stepfather, though married to the child's parent, usually lacks a parent's legal rights and duties. A sperm donor counts as the biological father. The father's sperm also settles a child's sex, carrying either an X or a Y chromosome. Today DNA testing settles the question the Roman maxim sidestepped; an estimated 2 percent of British fathers unknowingly raise a child who is not theirs.
Paternity rights differ widely by country, and fatherhood, unlike motherhood, goes unmentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sweden introduced paid paternity leave in 1976, and more than half of EU countries now pay it, though laws often ignore male same-sex couples. Groups such as Fathers 4 Justice argue family courts favour mothers.
Many male animals take no part in raising young; human fathers became involved during the Stone Age. For most of European history mothers did the childcare while fathers provided, but since the 1950s researchers and feminists have challenged the breadwinner role, and fathers' share of care has grown. By 2013, 16 percent of American single parents were men, and a meta-analysis found Western fathers tend to favour daughters over sons.
Studies link involved fathers to fewer behavioural problems in young adults, better school results and stronger future marriages, and children raised with fathers rate themselves more capable than peers without one. History also records patricides, from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, killed by two sons, to Sri Lanka's Kassapa I, who seized the throne from his father.
Source: Father
