Dads, did you experience any unusual changes in perception or personality after your wife gave birth?

Becoming a dad created some unexpected changes in me. I have mentioned in other questions here that I was shocked to find I had a huge boost in my protective instinct, and realized that I was capable of doing anything to protect my children. The change was immediate, and it allowed me to connect with the fact that I am as complex a mammal as all of those subjects on those fascinating nature shows.

I immediately became Awesome Dad! I’m still a big daft dumb kid, but from the moment I became a daddy, a certain maturity & protective instinct kicked in. I like that…....a lot!

Also, all of those theoretical political and moral beliefs I had entertained when I was younger became much more real. Gay rights wasn’t just something to argue about for kicks and giggles. I was now fighting for the rights of my child, who may be gay. Same goes for reproductive freedom. It all became a bit more personal. Sure, I was pro-choice before. Now, it meant fighting for the right of my daughter to have control over her body. This goes for all issues and things I feel are important (the environment, privacy, etc).

I immediately went into the mode of “my responsibility has just increased three-fold”.

It’s what I called my “father now-settle down change in my body”.

Babies and a good wife have a way of making this happen.

I became much more “aware” of things going on around me, my wife, and my children. It’s like my “Spidey senses” became heightened. I also noticed I became more sensitive to sounds that resembled my young children’s voices/cries. I would catch the sounds of a child outside. Before I had kids, I couldn’t care less or bothered to notice. I think even my vision was affected——a little kid would immediately “catch my eye”, that is, an unrelated child who even bears a slight resemblance to my own child.

relevant

(fatherhood associated with drops in testosterone)

@tom_g That’s a very interesting article. I never heard of that before. So the psychological has an effect on the physical? That may be so. After my first child was born, I did seem to notice my ‘feelings’ kind of changed. Was it the same for you @tom_g?

However, I kind of query the proposal that testosterone “lowers” a man’s immunity. I read in other studies that the hormone boosts a man’s immunity. For example, when a man has sex, his testosterone level increases, which in turn strengthens his overall immune system.