Hope and commitment: Challenges of fathering sick children

Abstract

Fathers seem to suddenly take the front seat in parenting when it comes to difficult situations. When the child falls seriously ill, the father in India responds in several ways, to the call of moral duty combined with his love and commitment for the child’s well-being. This chapter attempts to integrate and document the experiences of fathers across different social backgrounds who have children suffering from common, rare and terminal illness, such as thalassemia, a variety of cancers, paediatric surgical interventions, juvenile diabetes and the like. It also highlights the nature of the father’s involvement and the way fathers respond to challenges, in the hope of helping a child lead a successful life, drawing from the experiential evidence of fathers complimented by in-depth interviews of doctors and healthcare professionals from the city of Vadodara, Bangalore and Pune.