I Still Don’t Think She Looks Like Me

While May was pregnant with Pooky, I read something in a parenting book that really stuck out to me: Lots of fathers-to-be harbor doubts about whether the baby is really theirs. It’s not that they distrust the mother-to-be; their rational mind doesn’t suspect any unfaithfulness. It’s more a reflection of their awe at their part in the process of creating life, and a disbelief that they are capable of such a feat. Apparently, this has been going on for a long time. There’s research now that women have evolved to be able to reassure the fathers of their children by convincing the father that the baby looks just like him. It’s not just lip service, either. They believe it themselves:

The new research was conducted by scientists at Sheffield University and Montpellier University in France using a sample of 69 families with a total of 83 children up to the age of six between them.

The parents were asked whom their babies and children most resembled. Pictures of the babies and children were then shown to 209 independent judges who were asked to study them for similarities to their parents, and the two sets of results were then compared.

All the mothers said boys looked liked their father, and 77 per cent said girls looked like him too. More than eight out of 10 men thought the child took after them.

So… should I be concerned that May doesn’t think Pooky looks like me?

Here’s a link to the article.