He’s Not My Grandpa. He’s My Dad.

Thomas Vinciguerra
The New York Times
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Story
The Summary: The article examines the trend of older men becomming new dads.

It's strange to think about someone as old as my grandpa being my dad, especially since both my grandfathers are gone.

This article goes into some of the psychological issues, such as a young child dealing with their father's illness, and how the man's first set of children feel about his new wife and second set. (The new wife often being young enough to be his daughter) Other issues include (obviously) the death of a parent, and the single parenthood that follows.

The article said that most of these "start over dads" (the article calls them SODs) are rich, most often married to women much younger than them. Most of which are second or even third marriages.

I can't say that I think it's entirely wrong. Having children is a choice. If these May-December couples choose to have children, I can't see anything entirely wrong with it. Most of these men have money, and as long as they leave funds for their children's upbringing I can't see anything absolutely horrible about it.

Yes, there are psychological issues when a child deals with the death of a parent, but on the other hand, it doesn't mean a man who fathers a child at 25 is invincible. Yes the older man has a higher chance of death, but that doesn't make him a bad father. In fact, the article said that one of the perks of being a SOD was that these men spent more time with their children, becuase they were either retired, or at least weren't working as hard as they did in their 20s and 30s. The men also said they were more mellow with their 2nd set of children.

I can't leave the subject with out touching on Hugh Hefner. Not only does he date women that could be his daughter, one of his three girlfriends (Kendra, 21) could be his granddaughter. He has two adolescent sons, and two grown children from his first marriage. He's the ultimate poster-child for this type of lifestyle.