A father is traditionally the maleparent of a child. Like mothers, fathers may be categorised according to their biological, social or legal relationship with the child. Historically, the biological relationship paternity has been determinative of fatherhood. However, proof of paternity has been intrinsically problematic and so social rules often determined who would be regarded as a father e.g. the husband of the mother. This method of the determination of fatherhood has persisted since Roman times. The historical approach has been destabilised with the recent emergence of accurate scientific testing, particularly DNA testing. As a result, the law on fatherhood is undergoing rapid changes. In the United States, the Uniform Parentage Act essentially defines a father as a man who conceives a child through sexual intercourse.
Natural father - the most common category: child product of man and woman
Surprise father - where the men did not know that there was a child until possibly years afterwards
Posthumous father - father died before children were born (or even conceived)
Teenage father/youthful father - may be associated with premarital sexual intercourse
Non-parental father - unmarried father whose name does not appear on child's birth certificate: does not have legal responsibility but continues to have financial responsibility (UK)
Sperm donor father - a genetic connection but man does not have legal or financial responsibility if conducted through licensed clinics (UK)
Non-biological (social / legal relationship between father and child)
Step-father - wife/partner has child from previous relationship
Father-in-law - the father of one's spouse
Adoptive father - child is adopted
Foster father - child is raised by a man who is not the biological or adoptive father usually as part of a couple.
Cuckolded father - where child is the product of the mother's adulterous relationship
Social father - where man takes de facto responsibility for a child (in such a situation the child is known as a "child of the family" in English law)
Mothers's partner - assumption that current partner fills father role
Mothers's husband - under some jurisdictions (e.g. in Quebec civil law), if the mother is married to another man, the latter will be defined as the father
Fatherhood defined by contact level with child
Weekend/holiday father - where child(ren) only stay(s) with father at weekends, holidays, etc.
Absent father - father reluctant to spend time with the child(ren)
Second father - a non-parent whose contact and support is robust enough that near parental bond occurs (often used for older male siblings who significantly aid in raising a child).
Where man in couple originally seeking IVF treatment withdraws consent before fertilisation (UK)
Where the apparently male partner in a IVF arrangement turns out to be legally a female (evidenced by birth certificate) at the time of the treatment (UK) (TLR 1st June 2006)
A biological child of a man who, for the special reason above, is not their legal father, has no automatic right to financial support or inheritance. Legal fatherlessness refers to a legal status and not to the issue of whether the father is now dead or alive.
Terminology
The most familiar English terms for father include dad, daddy, papa, pop and pa. Other colloquial expressions include my old man.
The word Father is, by followers of the Christian religion, applied to God, whom they believe is creator of the universe and humanity and who, according to them, is also the Father of Jesus Christ.
Father is also the title given to Priests in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches, and Anglo-Catholic ministers in the Church of England as well as several other denominations. Father is the regular form of address used when speaking to or referring to priests from these churches. Some Protestants believe priests should not be called "Father", based on their interpretation of Mat 23:9. The term "Padre" is used for military chaplains, being Spanish and Italian for "Father". The terms "Abbot" and "Pope" also mean "Father".
Catholic & Orthodox Christians give this title to their clergy because they believe that all Christian believers make up the Body of Christ (or the Church). They believe that the clergy who receive this title are spiritual fathers because as one is a member of the Body, so there are also "elders,", "rabbis," and other leaders. Father can be translated as an elder because it presumes that one has, because of age or study, wisdom and knowledge of the doctrines of the Church. St. Paul also refers to himself as having spiritually begotten his fellow Christians in Christ due to their "new birth" (or baptism) as in 1 Cor 2:15, 2 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 2:1, 1 Tim 5:1, Titus 1:4, 1 Pet 1:18, 2 Pet 3:4, 1 Jn 2:13, etc.
The title father is also applied to certain influential early Christian figures: church father and apostolic fathers.
Philosophical fatherhood
Father can also refer metaphorically to a person who is considered the founder of a body of knowledge or of an institution. In such context the meaning of "father" is similar to that of "founder". See List of people known as the father or mother of something.
