The travails of today’s fathers

THERE are no words to describe exactly what it feels like for a man pacing about for hours in the waiting room of the maternity ward as his wife inside the delivery room struggles to give birth to their child, particularly in the aftermath when the nurse comes out of the swinging door to deliver the good news.

It’s boy! Or, it’s a girl! The baby’s gender doesn’t really matter. What counts most is that heady sense of fatherhood, of parenthood, the transformation from lad to dad and its life-shifting ramifications—a natural high beyond the customary greetings of Congratulations! Or Happy Father’s Day!