Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Bioethics Institute Ghent, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Institute for Biomedical Ethics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 26;19(8):e0309448. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309448. eCollection 2024.
This study aims to gain more insight in the lived experience of men who became father at an advanced age (40 years or older). Advanced Parental Age (APA) is becoming an increasingly widespread phenomenon as the average age at which people have children has been increasing for decades now. However, the psychosocial dimension of APA-fatherhood in particular remains a highly understudied topic. This Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis presents findings from a qualitative interview study with seven men who fathered their (now teenage) children in their early 40s to early 50s. Interviews were semi-structured and focused on lived experiences of the participants and their normative stances regarding the topic of parenting at an advanced age. Three themes were identified: The fathers in our sample describe their APA as a result of life events rather than an intentional postponement. Second, they managed how they were perceived as APA-fathers by distancing themselves from 'too old' parents. However, these fathers did not perceive fatherhood at a younger age as better than their current APA. Three fathers, who also had an earlier fatherhood experience, provided a rich account of how they made sense of their fatherhood roles in both families. Third, the seven fathers encountered social stigma, leading to various coping strategies. These findings contribute to better understanding the psychosocial dimension of APA-fatherhood.
本研究旨在更深入地了解高龄父亲（40 岁及以上）的生活体验。随着人们生育子女的平均年龄在过去几十年中不断提高，高龄生育现象变得越来越普遍。然而，高龄生育父亲的心理社会维度尤其仍是一个研究不足的话题。本解释现象学分析呈现了一项定性访谈研究的结果，该研究的参与者是 7 位在 40 多岁到 50 多岁初为人父的男性，他们的孩子现在已经十几岁。访谈采用半结构化的方式，重点关注参与者的生活体验以及他们对高龄生育的规范性立场。研究确定了三个主题：我们的研究样本中的父亲将他们的 APA 描述为生活事件的结果，而不是有意推迟。其次，他们通过与“太老”的父母保持距离来管理自己作为 APA 父亲的形象。然而，这些父亲并不认为年轻时的育儿经历比现在的 APA 更好。三位有更早生育经历的父亲提供了丰富的叙述，讲述了他们如何在两个家庭中理解自己的父亲角色。第三，这 7 位父亲遭遇了社会污名，导致他们采取了各种应对策略。这些发现有助于更好地理解 APA 父亲的心理社会维度。
