Seen At 11: More Single Men Are Choosing To Start Families On Their Own
NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- It's not unusual for a single woman to raise a child on her own, but it's happening more with single men.
Just like women, they are hearing their biological clock tick, and as CBS2's Dick Brennan reported, we are seeing a new fatherhood.
Month old twins Conrad, and his sister, Kennedy, are constantly on the move.
Their father, Conrad Cean, couldn't be more thrilled.
"I knew this would make me happy, and it has made me happy," he said.
Cean took an unusual route to fatherhood. He was still single, and in his 40s.
"I did not want to not have children. It was something that I felt I could not go through with, and not experience that," Dr. Conrad Cean said.
With the help of donor eggs and a surrogate from a fertility clinic he had his twins.
"The moment I saw them I was like, 'oh these are my little guys,'" he said.
Alan Cresto took the same route, and also used a surrogate to become a single dad. His baby Dante is seven-months-old.
"He's a very happy baby, a little bit feisty, but happy, smart," he said.
In his mid 50s he said, it was time.
"My family and my friends were in disbelief," he said.
Now, they've come around.
"Everybody is an aunt and uncle," he said.
Experts said single men who choose fatherhood are very motivated and make good parents.
"I see it as a welcome trend. Here is a family that developed because a father really wants to be a caregiver, so in my opinion that's a very desirable environment," Psychologist, Dr. Barbara Greenberg said.
Both fathers are busy professionals, but have a lot of support.
"That's essential. I couldn't do it without that, quite honestly," Cresto said.
The men have made adjustments on the job. Cresto, a photographer, often takes Dante on shoots.
Cean has an exam room that doubles as a playroom.
Both said they went an nontraditional route, but are making it work.
According to the Pew Research Center, men now lead about a quarter or all single parent families.
