Fathers



A father is the male parent of a child. Like mothers, fathers may be categorised according to their biological, social or legal relationship with the child. Historically, the biological relationship paternity has been determinative of fatherhood. However, proof of paternity has been intrinsically problematic and so social rules often determined who would be regarded as a father e.g. the husband of the mother. This method of the determination of fatherhood has persisted since Roman times in the famous sentence: Mater semper certa; pater est quem nuptiae demonstrant (Mother is always certain; the father is whom the marriage shows). The historical approach has been destabilised with the recent emergence of accurate scientific testing, particularly DNA testing. As a result, the law on fatherhood is undergoing rapid changes. In the United States, the Uniform Parentage Act essentially defines a father as a man who conceives a child through sexual intercourse.

The most familiar English terms for father include dad, daddy, papa, pop and pa. Other colloquial expressions include my old man.

Biological (child possesses male parent's genes)

 * Natural father - the most common category: child product of man and woman
 * Birth father - the biological father of a child who, due to adoption or parental separation, does not raise the child
 * Surprise father - where the men did not know that there was a child until possibly years afterwards
 * Posthumous father - father died before children were born (or even conceived in the case of artificial insemination)
 * Teenage father/youthful father - may be associated with premarital sexual intercourse
 * Non-parental father - unmarried father whose name does not appear on child's birth certificate: does not have legal responsibility but continues to have financial responsibility (UK)
 * Sperm donor father - a genetic connection but man does not have legal or financial responsibility if conducted through licensed clinics

Non-biological (social / legal relationship between father and child)

 * Step-father - wife/partner has child from previous relationship
 * Father-in-law - the father of one's spouse
 * Adoptive father - child is adopted
 * Foster father - child is raised by a man who is not the biological or adoptive father usually as part of a couple.
 * Cuckolded father - where child is the product of the mother's adulterous relationship
 * Social father - where man takes de facto responsibility for a child (in such a situation the child is known as a "child of the family" in English law)
 * Mothers's partner - assumption that current partner fills father role
 * Mothers's husband - under some jurisdictions (e.g. in Quebec civil law), if the mother is married to another man, the latter will be defined as the father
 * DI Dad - social / legal father of children produced via Donor Insemination where a donor's sperm were used to impregnate the DI Dad's spouse.

Fatherhood defined by contact level with child

 * Weekend/holiday father - where child(ren) only stay(s) with father at weekends, holidays, etc.
 * Absent father - father reluctant to spend time with the child(ren)
 * Second father - a non-parent whose contact and support is robust enough that near parental bond occurs (often used for older male siblings who significantly aid in raising a child).
 * Stay at home dad - the male equivalent of a housewife with child

Legally fatherless children

 * Where man in couple originally seeking IVF treatment withdraws consent before fertilisation (UK)


 * Where the apparently male partner in an IVF arrangement turns out to be legally a female (evidenced by birth certificate) at the time of the treatment (UK) (TLR 1st June 2006)


 * A biological child of a man who, for the special reason above, is not their legal father, has no automatic right to financial support or inheritance. Legal fatherlessness refers to a legal status and not to the issue of whether the father is now dead or alive.

Religion
The word Father is, by followers of the Christian religion, applied to God, whom they believe is creator of the universe and humanity and who, according to them, is also the Father of Jesus Christ.

Father is also the title used almost universally for a Priest in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches. While not as widespread, it also has wide use in the Church of England, other churches in the Anglican Communion, as well as for ministers in several other denominations, such as some Lutheran denominations. The term "Padre" is used for military chaplains, being Spanish and Italian for "Father". The terms "Abbot" and "Pope" also mean "Father." Some Protestants believe priests should not be called "Father" because Jesus said, "And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9).

Catholic & Orthodox Christians give this title to their clergy because they believe that all Christian believers make up the Body of Christ (or the Church). They believe that the clergy who receive this title are spiritual fathers because as one is a member of the Body, so there are also "elders,", "rabbis," and other leaders. Father can be translated as an elder because it presumes that one has, because of age or study, wisdom and knowledge of the doctrines of the Church. St. Paul also refers to himself as having spiritually begotten his fellow Christians in Christ due to their "new birth" (or baptism) as in 1 Cor 2:15, 2 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 2:1, 1 Tim 5:1, Titus 1:4, 1 Pet 1:18, 2 Pet 3:4, 1 Jn 2:13, etc.

The title father is also applied to certain influential early Christian figures: church father and apostolic fathers.

Philosophical fatherhood
Father can also refer metaphorically to a person who is considered the founder of a body of knowledge or of an institution. In such context the meaning of "father" is similar to that of "founder". See List of people known as the father or mother of something.