Fathering at a Young Age: Lived Experiences of Teenaged Fathers Who Raise Their Children

This phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of teenage Ilokano fathers. Specifically, this study described what it is like to be a teenage father. Six teenage fathers, called in this study as Juan ang batang ama (Juan the young father), between the ages of 13 and 19 were selected through criterion sampling, and their experiences were gathered using an aide-mémoire. The data were analyzed using cool and warm analyses to identify significant statements and develop categories and themes. The analysis revealed five themes: shocking, overwhelming, balancing, challenging, and transforming. Initially, the teenage fathers' parents reacted with shock and disappointment, but over time, they gradually accepted and supported their children. The participants also described the overwhelming emotions and challenges they faced while balancing their roles as fathers and students. Moreover, they encountered difficulties such as delayed studies, financial constraints, and societal judgment, but also experienced personal growth and transformation. Fatherhood brought increased responsibility, maturity, and a shift in perspective, while their relationship with their children provided happiness, relief, and inspiration. The study emphasizes the importance of support systems, educational resources, and financial assistance in helping teenage fathers navigate their challenges while continuing their education. It also highlights the need to reduce the stigma and create an enabling environment that support the success of teenage fathers. Finally, the study suggests future research should include a more diverse sample for a broader understanding of teenage fatherhood in different contexts and culture.

Becoming a father for the first time might cause great changes in a man's identity and lifestyle. Teenage fathers must strive to balance two competing roles: the teenage role and the father role. The current study design followed grounded theory methodology to gain a deeper understanding of how Thai teenage fathers reason about becoming and being a father from a gender equality perspective. Participants were selected from a heterogeneous group of fathers until saturation was reached ( n = 25). Most of the fathers were cohabiting with their partner in an extended family. An interview guide was developed, a pilot study was undertaken, and interviews were performed on two different occasions: once during the second trimester of pregnancy and again when the baby was 5 to 6 months old. The core category, "Male breadwinners involved in parenting," encompassed persons making the transition from being solely a teenager to being a teenage father. Most of the fathers accepted the unintended pregnancy and took on the expected breadwinning responsibility of a father. They prepared for fatherhood and changed their lifestyle. Their families provided support. Nevertheless, the fathers sought to avoid further unplanned parenthood by learning about family planning. The teenage fathers emphasized breadwinning first, then involved himself in the child and the housework. These findings provide an increased understanding of Thai teenage fathers.

Data from a nationally representative longitudinal survey show that seven percent of young males aged 20-27 in 1984 had fathered a child while they were teenagers, more than three-quarters of them nonmaritally. One-third of those who were responsible for a nonmarital conception married within 12 months of conception, and half of all of the young men lived with their child shortly after the child's birth. Overall, young black men were more likely to have been responsible for a nonmarital first birth than were males of other racial backgrounds, and only 15 percent of black teenagers lived with their first child, compared with 48 percent of Hispanics, 58 percent of disadvantaged whites and 77 percent of nondisadvantaged whites. Multivariate analyses indicated that only black or Hispanic youths and those who fathered a child at age 16 or younger were significantly less likely to have lived with their first child; those who were raised Catholic were more likely to have done so. Further analyses revealed that living in a rural area, being relatively older at the child's birth, having been raised Catholic and having lived with both parents at age 14 were associated with an above average probability that white teenage fathers would live with their child, at least initially. However, none of the variables in the model were significant for blacks. Teenage fathers, regardless of their marital status at conception or age at first birth, were much more likely to have been high school dropouts than were other male teenagers. Those with a maritally conceived child had a particularly high drop-out rate--almost 62 percent. Among teenage fathers responsible for a nonmaritally conceived first birth that occurred before they received their diploma or GED certificate or received their diploma or GED certificate or they left school for the last time, those living with their partner shortly after the child's birth were less likely to have completed high school by 1984 than were those not living with their child. However, a multivariate analysis revealed that a teenage father's living with his child shortly after birth was not significantly related to his completion of high school, while being black was positively associated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

In this paper, we examine ways in which a group of teenage fathers in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, talk about their involvement in becoming a teenage father. We draw from a qualitative research project based on five focus groups and 20 individual interviews with teenage fathers aged between 17 and 19 years of age. We argue that when teenage fathers talk about their experiences, they locate caring and traditional versions of masculinity in understanding their roles. These versions of masculinity are socially and culturally located which both expand and constrict teenage fatherhood and caring masculinities. We conclude with some implications for addressing teenage men in the construction of masculinities.

Foreword - Leo Hendricks Overview of Book PART ONE: UNIVERSAL CONSIDERATIONS A Profile of the Teenage Father Program Development, Outreach Considerations and Case Management Issues Pregnancy Resolution and Legal Considerations Addressing Issues with the Extended Family and Peers Preparation for Fatherhood - Mark S Kiselica, James C Stroud and Judith E Stroud Educational and Career Counseling PART TWO: CULTURE-SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS Anglo-American Teenage Fathers African-American Teenage Fathers Hispanic-American Teenage Fathers Other Culture-Specific Considerations PART THREE Summary and Case Studies PART FOUR Implications for Training and Research

Until recently, service programs for adolescent fathers have been rare. Such a program for teenage fathers and service characteristics that encourage the involvement of teenage fathers are described. In particular, fathers who did not live with the mothers of their babies had dramatically greater participation in prenatal activities if they used teenage father services. Services to fathers and fathers' participation in prenatal activities also were associated with higher birthweights. Engaging adolescent fathers in pilot fatherhood projects thus has high potential to benefit teenage fathers and mothers and their infants.

This research tries to establish a significant value in the lived experiences of single teenage fathers. Researchers used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as the lens to understand the lived experiences of single teenage fathers. Using data from individual interviews, data analysis produced a synthesis of five individual cases. According to France’s (2009) with the use of individual interviews, it is a valuable method of gaining insight into people's perceptions, understandings and experiences of a given phenomenon and can contribute to in-depth data collection. Overall results showed superordinate themes centering on single teenage fathers’ (1) Experiences as a teenage father, (2) Peer Adjustment, (3) Acceptance, and (4) Insights gained from experiences. Theoretical and practical reflections of lived experiences stated in the context are discussed. A call for a phenomenologically guided approach is needed for understanding the behavior and mental needs for single teenage fathers.

Data from Certificates of Live Birth, for recorded resident births in Baltimore in 1983, were used to describe fathers whose child was born to a teenage mother. Four groups were identified: 1) both father and mother were teenagers (12 per cent); 2) only the mother was a teenager (14 per cent); 3) only the father was a teenager (2 per cent); 4) both parents were aged 20 years of above (72 per cent). The fathers in the first three groups appeared at serious educational and financial disadvantage as compared with those where neither parent was a teenager. Within the teenage parent groups, White fathers had lower educational attainment than Black; one in four White fathers was married vs less than 5 per cent of Black. Although limited in scope, the data indicate that disadvantages associated with being a teenage father or the father of an infant born by a teenage mother are clear cut.

Aim: to identify the support network to teenage fathers through the Minimum Map of Relationships, which consists of a registering of personal social network, in which included all the individuals interacting with it. Method: study of qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, a clip from the data of the multicenter research Social Networks of Support to Teenage Parenthood. It was developed with teenage parents in the period June 2009 to June 2010, six months after the birth of (a) child (a). Result: it was possible to observe that there were weaknesses in the social support network, as the family constituted the main source of support of the teenage father. Conclusions: it is important that the teenage father can count on a diversified net of support, including family, friends and health services so that the paternity can be lived in the healthiest way possible.

When African teenagers in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa become fathers out of wedlock, cultural practices around the acknowledgement of paternity and the payment of damages are invoked. Damage payments refer to culturally embedded compensation paid by the young father and his family to the girls’ family for premarital pregnancy. The acknowledgement of paternity is deeply connected to masculinity and the expectation of fathers, even when young, to provide, appease and pay the damages associated with the violation of virginity. In this chapter, we draw from a qualitative study of teenage fathers in KwaZulu-Natal as they address the process of negotiating non-marital fertility and the gendered and generational dynamics that underlie this process. Since teenage fathers are mainly at school, their immediate kin is involved in the negotiation of paternity and payment of damages. We report on the complexity in the process of negotiating paternity and the payment of damages, which invoke kinship, gender and generational dynamics. We demonstrate that while these practices are changing and never fixed across the experiences of fathers, they continue to remain widely valued. The payment of damages is offset by different means, including delaying payment, signing future debt or relying on kin (when resources are available) to pay the debt. Access to the child is thus a negotiated process and contextually specific to the everyday circumstances of teenage fathers. This flexibility permits new ways of thinking about teenage fathers’ involvement with their child and raising young families that are less strained by cultural norms and more sensitive to teenage fathers’ particular social location and their involvement with the child.

In this study, we compared perceived father roles among teenage and adult first-time fathers in Thailand. The design was cross-sectional and comparative, and the sample involved 70 teenage and 70 adult fathers, whose children were 2-6 months old. The fathers were recruited from 32 primary healthcare centers in the western region of Thailand. Three validated, self-reported questionnaires with multiple-choice questions were used for data collection. Differences between the two groups were analyzed using χ(2)-test and the Mann-Whitney U-test. The results revealed differences between teenage and adult fathers concerning income, educational level, and intention to have a baby. The teenage father group had a lower sense of competence, and scored lower on childrearing behavior and father-child relationship than the adult father group. These findings provide healthcare professionals with increased knowledge and understanding of teenage fathers' needs in preparing for parenthood. Given that we now know the importance of positive father roles in children's lives, health authorities should be expected to provide resources to help support these fathers.

The author examines the educational and labor market outcomes of young men in the United States, with a particular emphasis on adolescent fathers. She finds that men who were teen fathers complete fewer years of education and are less likely to finish high school compared to men who were not teen fathers. These educational deficits persist even after family and personal characteristics are taken into account. Teen fathers enter the labor market earlier and initially earn more money than do other men; by the time teen fathers reach their mid-20s, however, they earn less. After controlling for personal traits and family background, the long-term earnings deficits of teen fathers disappear, implying that teen fathers are as capable of providing for their children as are other young men from similarly disadvantaged backgrounds. Unfortunately, this will not ease the jobs of child support enforcement officials, who must regularly confront young, low-income, absent fathers and/or improve the plight of welfare-dependent and other impoverished children. Data are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Participation—Youth Cohort.

In Lost and Found: Young Fathers in the Age of Unwed Parenthood, psychologists Paul Florsheim and David Moore consider the experiences of fathers on their transition to parenthood in a unique context—teen fathers who were participants in the authors’ co-parenting program and living in Salt Lake City or Chicago. The authors address a number of relevant themes for this topic including (1) the decoupling of marriage and childbearing, (2) structural inequalities and barriers to father involvement, (3) the transition to parenthood and its linkages with parental well-being and romantic relationships, (4) co-parenting, (5) parental identity and attachment, and (6) policy and program implications to support young, unwed fathers. Primary analyses in Lost and Found stem from couple-level interviews. Interview data from mothers and fathers are consistent on most topics—with a noteworthy exception being the intention to avoid pregnancy. Based on the description of the data, a few things remain unclear: (1) the degree to which the experiences of the 22 couples in Lost and Found represent patterns and themes present in the broader sample, (2) when (i.e., calendar year) interviews occurred, and (3) how many couples remained in analyses from the baseline (prebirth) to the final follow up interview (2 years after the birth). Key findings illustrate that many teen fathers successfully transition to fatherhood better than expected given the significant structural barriers these young men face concerning both stable employment and relationships. In addition, the authors demonstrate that romantic relationships among teen parents—which some prior research has trivialized—can be significant sources of both support and strain for parents’ well-being. In short, findings align with much of the existing scholarship on fatherhood in an era of unwed childbearing by emphasizing that unwed teen fathers, like their older, unwed counterparts report (1) higher risks of unplanned births, (2) economic uncertainty, (3) elevated family instability, and (4) high risk of incarceration—to name some barriers to father involvement. In spite of these challenges, some enter relationships with birth mothers that are characterized by high levels of stability and relationship quality. Many others, who are unable to make the romantic relationships with the mother “work,” are able to effectively coparent with former partners.

This study explored the early fatherhood experiences of school-going teenage fathers. Informants were four South African Sesotho speaking teenage fathers, aged 17 to 20 years. They responded to semi-structured interviews on their experiences during schooling. Following thematic analysis, results revealed that Basotho teenage fathers are initially fearful of being early fathers and they initially react with denial of parenthood. The early fathers reported experiencing humiliation by schoolteachers and peer rejection, which also harmed their academic performance. Subsequently, the early fathers underwent a transition becoming resilient, choosing to involve themselves in their children’s upbringing and growth, and building positive relationships with their partners.

A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted with six adolescent fathers of Mexican origin on juvenile probation for a variety of serious offenses. All participants successfully completed a parenting program designed especially for teen fathers. In a series of consecutive in-depth interviews, teen fathers were asked to discuss their experiences as fathers. Four phenomena were identified from the data: (a) not giving up and deciding to be a dad, (b) figuring out my relationships after becoming a father, (c) wanting to be a good father, and (d) wanting to be Brown and a father. Findings challenge negative stereotypes associated with Mexican-origin teen fathers engaged in delinquent behaviors and describe the ways in which fatherhood became an important positive motivator in the lives of participants.