Hello Fatherhood, Goodbye Testosterone

Here’s some interesting news that might freak out some dads: once men become fathers, their testosterone levels drops. That means that males are biologically wired to care for their offspring in much the same way females are. Sure, many of us have partners who are loving and nurturing and totally hands-on but who knew that their hormone levels actually change as a result?

In the first large study measuring testosterone in men, researchers looked at 600 guys when they were single and childless, and then five years later once they had children. They found the more a dad gets involved with caring for his offspring, the lower his testosterone drops, reports The New York Times. Although testosterone naturally decreases with age, men who became fathers showed much greater declines more than double that of the childless men.

Peter Ellison, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard, told the paper that American males have been brainwashed to believe that lower testosterone means that “maybe you’re a wimp, that it’s because you’re not really a man… My hope would be that this kind of research has an impact on the American male. It would make them realize that we’re meant to be active fathers and participate in the care of our offspring.”

The more involved the dad, the lower his testosterone level. In fact, men who spent more than three hours a day caring for their children (playing, feeding, bathing, etc.) had the lowest levels of all.

”It could almost be demonized, like, ”˜Oh my God, fathers, don’t take care of your kids because your testosterone will drop way down,’ ” study co-author Lee Gettler told The New York Times. ”But this should be viewed as, ”˜Oh it’s great, women aren’t the only ones biologically adapted to be parents.’ ”

For any men out there disturbed by these findings, know this: Women are all about the DILF. And guess what? That comes with being hands-on and in tune with your kids.

(Photo: BananaStock)