In a recent post we noted one of the things many men say they dislike about single women is a “ticking biological clock”.

As writer Dom Knight notes in a recent blog, “The thirty-something childless woman who is racing against her biological clock has become a cliché in popular culture thanks to movies like The Back-Up Plan, in which Jennifer Lopez gives up and undergoes artificial insemination, but meets the man of her dreams the same day. (Oh, the irony!)

Very few men are ready to admit to feeling clucky themselves, but Sydney satirist Dom is one who is.

Dying To Be Dad

Dom’s a funny man who was one of the founders of The Chaser newspaper and then a writer for the ABC comedy TV show.

In a recent feature in Sunday Life, featured in full on his blog, he admits he’s hankering after having a baby, even though he hasn’t yet identified a suitable mother for same infant.

At 33 he says he is living a dream life, with “practically no responsibilities and a fun job that supports my need for overseas holidays and shiny gadgets.”

He can sleep late, and work in his pyjamas. And he’d trade “anything except his iPad” for a kicking screaming bundle of joy.

Undeterred By Nappies

“Even the thought of having to get up at the crack of dawn and change a filthy nappy doesn’t put me off the whole thing, the way it used to.

“Not when I picture myself dandling my son indulgently on my knee, or fondly wiping the drool off my daughter’s face.

“I imagine myself dispensing helpful advice that they’ll ignore, or making somewhat erroneous claims about how the world works, or kicking a ball around in a backyard I’ve yet to acquire.”

Single Men’s Taboo

As he notes, “Our society views bachelorhood as a desirable, glamorous state, like Mr Big’s life in those blissful moments when he doesn’t have to put up with Carrie Bradshaw.

“But here’s the thing – as Sathnam Sanghera wrote in The Times when articulating his own desire for fatherhood, ‘single, straight, 33-year-old men aren’t allowed to confess to broodiness.’

“Single men expressing an interest in young children is something of a taboo in our society, because of our heightened consciousness of paedophilia.

“As a result, we single men have to tread extremely carefully around children, lest we be suspected of having problems that run rather deeper than bad luck in finding a partner.

Says Dom: “I’m certainly fortunate that my fertility has a slower rate of decline than it does for women in their thirties.

“But until guys like me get our acts together, we’d appreciate it if society acknowledged that not all single blokes view the prospect of parenthood as an unwelcome incursion into their precious footy-watching time.”

Do You Agree?

So what are your thoughts? Felt the same urge but suppressed it as “unmanly?” Too scared to even admit them to yourself? Let us know what you think.

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About the author

Jenny W

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