12 Types of Fathers

There are at least twelve types of fathers who are celebrated on Father's Day on the third Sunday in June every year. Perhaps you are familiar with some or all of them.

There is no standard definition for the word "father" in statutes across the United States. Five states (Arizona, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia), the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands provide no legal definition for the word at all.

1. Male Parent

According to the dictionary, a father is the male parent of a child. He may have certain rights and obligations when it comes to the care and raising of the child. A father may also have parental and legal rights as well as a relationship with his child.

2. Biological Father

A biological father is a male contributor to the conception of a child. Even if the biological father is not married to the child's mother, he is legally responsible for supporting his child. If he refuses to support his child financially and in other areas, the court refers to him as a "deadbeat dad."

3. Adoptive Father

An adoptive father is a male who has been given legal rights to a child through the court. Adoption gives a man the right to raise a child as his own. An adoptive father has permanent rights and is responsible for the one he has adopted whether it is a baby, teenager, or adult. Just as the adoptive father has legal rights, so does the person who was adopted. That includes receiving an inheritance like biological children.

4. Stepfather

A stepfather is a man who is married to a child's mother. The man is not related to the child by blood, but he becomes a part of the family unit. Because he lives in the same house, the stepfather has some responsibilities for the child, and the child has responsibilities for the stepfather.

A non-biological father and the mother of a child should agree on certain rules concerning the raising of a child from a previous relationship. This will prevent friction in the family.

5. Putative Father

Statutes in 13 states of the United States define unwed fathers as "putative." A putative father is a biological father who had a physical relationship with a child's mother in the past. He is not married to her, and there is no relationship between him and his child. Usually, a putative father's legal right to a child had not been established. He is only alleged to be the biological father of a child who is born to a woman to whom he was not married to at the time of the child's birth.

6. Foster Father

A foster father is a man who raises a child that is not his. Most of the time, a foster father is one who is recommended by social services when the child has no known relatives available for his care. A foster father usually has a wife to help him. There may be more than one foster child in the house.

7. Godfather

A godfather is a man chosen by parents before a child is born or soon afterward to be responsible for help raising their child. In the event something happens to the child's biological parents, or if they are unable to care for a child, the godfather steps in with financial and other support. Even when the parents are able to care for their child, the godfather plays a part in the child's life by giving advice and gifts on special occasions such as birthdays, graduation, and marriage.

8. Father Figure

A father figure is any male who has a relationship with a child that is not his own. He supports that child in ways that he would support his own children. A father figure could be the child's relative, a family friend or someone else who cares about the proper raising of a child in the absence of the child's biological father.

9. Baby Daddy

This term is a fairly recent one that is heard in pop culture. A "baby daddy" is the biological father of a child he had with a woman who now has little or no contact with him. The man might take care of the child financially, but there might not be a strong relationship with the child because of the mother.

10. Surprise Father

There are some fathers who do not know they have children. Therefore, there is no relationship with them. When a man finds out later in life that he really does have one or more children, he is then described as a "surprise father."

11. Single Father

A single father is one who is in charge of taking care of his children alone without their mother being present. A man becomes a single father when he raises his children without a partner. The children's mother might have died. She might be in the military or in jail.

12. Absentee Father

An absentee father is a male parent who is not home most of the time or none of the time with his children. The father might have a job that takes him away from his family such as a merchant seaman or one who had been deployed for military duties. Unfortunately, some fathers have jail sentences where they can't visit their children, but their children can visit them.