Who's your daddy?

(via NY Times.)

Did you hear about this recent study of 600 men and their testosterone levels after having children?  Apparently when a man becomes a father, his testosterone levels drop and the more time the man spends with the child (children), the more those manly-hormone levels go down!  Crazy, right? 

It's funny to read the thoughts of the men quoted in the NY Times article... like people will think they are 'less of a man' because they are rearing children. Of course men would be worried about appearing less manly!  I agree with this dad and think he is right on with why there is a drop in the all-important 'man' hormone:

“It’s a natural process,” Matt Schneider, a stay-at-home father of two young children who lives in Battery Park City in Manhattan, said of the testosterone dip reported in the study. The finding, he said, was unfortunately being interpreted by some “as a way to emasculate men, when really it should be used as a way to show us all that we’re meant to be part of the care-giving process.” 

That, in fact, was a point that the study’s authors emphasized: a dip in testosterone does not mean a man is less virile. Rather, it seems to be nature’s way of slightly adjusting impulses, to make him less likely to stray once he has a family to look after, and more likely to focus on the tasks at hand.

Mr. Kross, a member of the NYC Dads Group, said he hoped that such findings might signal a watershed moment when people finally ditch the lingering stereotype that men, at some deep biological level, are inherently inferior at child-rearing. He said attitudes have shifted in the two years since he and his wife, who works in finance, decided that he would spend the days taking care of the children while she served as the breadwinner, despite the fact that he has an M.B.A. in operations management. 


If Lee wanted to be a stay-at-home dad and have me be the breadwinner (while living in Utah, of course), I would be totally down for that and I think Lee would do an amazing job raising our kid(s).  Times have changed!  The male/female roles have morphed!  It's not the 1960's anymore!

What do you think of this study?  I think it is so interesting and I love all the focus men in the media have been giving it!  Like all of a sudden they have to prove their manhood!  You guys, we still love you!  I'd even venture to say we'll love you even more as you become a father and spend time with your children!

Ladies, would you feel comfortable being the breadwinner and leaving your husband/significant other at home to raise the kids?  Of course!  I am very non-traditional and if it worked for both of our careers for Lee to stay at home with the kid(s) and for me to work, we'd totally do it.  But... I expect a clean home and home-cooked meals! :-)