Over the years, many of the gender stereotypes related to raising children have started to be break down. Now, more are realizing that dads can be just as nurturing and caring as moms and — if need be — can be the sole guardian in a child’s life.
Not only has this led to more fathers being granted joint custody or sole custody, but more men are also now choosing to go the route of being single parents by surrogacy.
A recent Associated Press article featured fathers who made the decision to follow their dreams of being a dad and who went with surrogacy.
At this point, while there are no numbers on how many men decide to go with surrogacy in order to become fathers, the for-profit surrogacy agency Growing Generations reports that their caseload of single fathers has been steadily increasing. Even just last year alone there were 25 cases involving single men wanting to be fathers, and this is just from one agency.
In looking at why someone would chose surrogacy, the reasoning among many men and women is the same: Wanting to be a parent, but getting older and not yet finding the right partner. Not wanting to continue to wait until the right partner comes along, many just decide to be single parents.
This increase in single fatherhood also follows the larger trend of fathers’ rights and dads wanting to be more than just the breadwinners in their children’s lives. This is why more and more dads are fighting for — and being granted — parental rights after a break-up or divorce from a child’s mother.
Source: TwinCities.com, “Via surrogacy, some men opt to become single dads,” David Crary, AP, Aug. 31, 2013
