Can Surrogate Fathers Fill the Gap?

When asked about whether they believed that a responsible male, apart from the biological father of a daughter can fill the role of a father in her life, 66% (68) of the participants responded in the affirmative. Only 10% (10) of the daughters felt that this could not be done. Approximately 22% (23) of the participants indicated that a father figure may be able to fill the role while 2% (2) said that they did not know. It must be noted here that these statistics have been calculated based on the total number of participants who answered questionnaires. The fact that daughters who were subject to paternal absenteeism as well as those whose fathers were present, were of the opinion that responsible males can help to fill the role of a father in the life of a daughter.

There may not be a way to promise or to even attempt to eliminate paternal absenteeism. However, it is believed that there is a way to alleviate the effects of this social ill on society, more specifically, on daughters. This study reveals that more than half of the participants agreed that surrogate fatherhood may be able to help, merely because another male, the participants believed, may have the capacity to fill the gap created by paternal absenteeism. Daughters do not have to experience a life of perpetual pain and hurt. On the contrary, someone can fill the gap. The results gleaned from this survey inferred that women in the Santa Cruz area believed that surrogate fatherhood can help in the process of finding answers to the problem.