Essay on the concept of motherhood, parenthood and fatherhood

Family is a natural and constant institution in human and social life. Motherhood and fatherhood are, therefore, constants and the family cannot be redefined.

It exists as a norm in all societies except cases which differ from this norm due to widowhood or single parent families as a result of divorce or separation. In fact, motherhood and fatherhood exist as archetypes of human existence with more than mere biological qualities.

There is no recognition of what a mother is, unless one has personal experience of a ‘real mother’ naturally in relation to her children Similarly fatherhood can be known only through lived experience in a family setting.

Parenthood has a connotation different from motherhood and fatherhood. Human being is the only living creature that is not influenced only by built in natural instinctive mechanism to guide most aspects of one’s behaviour.

It goes on learning as it grows and lives as a social being. One has to use relationships with others in order to develop talents, skills and ideas.

This is an essential condition for growth towards personal maturity. Family is the first environment which helps a person to relate oneself to others with natural love and cooperation.

With the entry of a person of the opposite sex in one’s life, a new kind of experience and’ relationship is developed which finds fulfillment in marriage. Together they learn to leave behind the T and ‘you’ and think of themselves as ‘we’, trust understanding grow. They become more open to each other revealing and sharing their inner being, feelings, values and choices.

Every person is meant to be born in a family and called upon to build a new family. Only by accepting family life and its responsibilities seriously a person can learn to reach out to others in love, respect and with a sense of service mentality. The joys and worries of planning, conceiving and bringing up children and social tasks and duties of family compel the couple to forget the self and become more involved with others.

Therefore, we may say that a responsible parenthood is the real parenthood. One has to be responsible to oneself, one’s family, spouse, children and the society.