Growing Up
Without A Father
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THAT YOU COULD BE THE FATHER YOU NEVER HAD.
One out of every three American children lives in a home without their father. Whether through early death or divorce, incarceration or extreme neglect, twenty-four million children in the United States are left to grow up with the emptiness, guilt, self-doubt, underachievement, anger, and depression that a fatherless home can provoke.
For a growing boy, life without a father can lead to drug and/or alcohol abuse, trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity. What's more, young men who grow up in fatherless homes are twice as likely to be incarcerated.
Girls who live in fatherless homes are more susceptible to eating disorders. They are more likely to have sexual problems, becoming either fearful of their own sexuality or dangerously promiscuous. A study of 13,986 imprisoned women showed that more than half of them grew up without their father.
This website is dedicated to the men and women who have grown up in fatherless homes or with abusive or “silent” fathers who fail to provide the support and security that every child needs. By bringing us all together in an atmosphere of love, support, and understanding, Growing Up Without A Father can help us all find the strength to look past our misfortunes and live full, productive, joyful lives. In doing so, perhaps we really can become the fathers we never had.
Healing
Creating space to face the past with clarity, support, and hope.
Security
Rebuilding stability, confidence, and healthy boundaries.
Community
Walking together through shared experiences and understanding.
Growth
Becoming the father, mentor, and presence you needed.
Direction
Finding a steadier path forward, with purpose and perspective.
Care
Support that feels human, compassionate, steady, and real.
Watch
Your not alone, even the Men we look up to have grown up with out a father
“I grew up without a father around… It is perhaps for this reason that fatherhood is so important to me, and why I’ve tried so hard to be there for my own children.” — President Barack Obama
“I know that I will never find my father in any other man who comes into my life, because it’s a void in my life that can only be filled by him.” — Halle Berry
“Have you any idea what I’ve been through because of you? Day after day in therapy, screaming for my daddy…” — John Lennon
“One night when my mother was gone, my drunken father got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me…” — Tyler Perry