All Change

In the final episode of this series, write Horatio Clare is in his home town of Hebden Bridge to explore how co-parenting, same-sex couples, new cultural contexts and changed societal norms have brought huge changes to the role of the father. He also delves into psychological research and neuroscience that shows how men’s brains change in ways similar to women’s around the birth of their child or while they are caring for a child, with testosterone dropping significantly to make way for nurturing urges and tenderness. He considers how the ‘relationship recession’ and the falling birth rate relate to expectations on people of how to parent and be a dad. Horatio interrogates 'the three ps of fatherhood' - 'provider, protector and permanence'. Do they work in our changed world? How does being a father relate to masculinity for men now? Do we need new ways of seeing?