Where are the dads?

In the Daily Telegraph today, Henry Wallop, in the section Television and radio writes that this is the year of the small-screen baby and that it’s about time fathers got a look in.


This article appears to me to be part of the ‘consensus’ that believes fathers should be present at the birth of their child. While admittedly I have never fathered a child (well at least not to my knowledge) and that had I, I may well have a different opinion, I am well aware that the process is painful to women, that it is a tad ‘bloody’ – and I would not wish to be there (and if forced to be, I would most definitely be at the ‘head end’) as regardless of which end I was positioned I would more than likely ‘hit the floor’ in very short order.


Generalising, I believe it logical to assume that most women for reasons related to their genes have a desire to conceive, a wish they may not be able to logically explain – and knowing the pain element involved – still wish to undergo the process of childbirth. But why does that mean the husband has to be present? Why is it necessary that he should be ‘forced by present thinking’ to witness what amounts to the physical humiliation of the woman he loves? Why should she be forced to have her husband/partner witness that ‘humiliation’? If a man is required to undergo circumcision in later life, is his wife/partner forced to witness the act? If a man has testicular cancer, is his wife duty bound to witness the operation? Should a husband be forced to watch his wife deal with her periodic problem? Every member of the human race has certain acts they have to perform – and childbirth is one of them. Should not each person be accorded the privacy of that act from their ‘other half if they so wish’?


It is appreciated that some readers may find my view/thoughts outdated/unacceptable/chauvanistic – to which I can only apologise, while saying that is me, that is how I feel – coupled with the fact that it is easy for me to hold such views as I am at an age where my chances of being part of the reproduction of another human being equate with my chances of winning the lottery.


Just who are these people who wish to have all men/women confirm to their way of thinking? Is childbirth not one of the last individual decisions that should be left to the two people concerned – the one who ‘began’ the process and the one who has to ‘end’ it?


When will ‘those who know better’ just butt out of people’s lives and leave them to make their own decisions?


Just saying……….

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