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When is the right time to be a father?

October 3rd, 2013

by Israel Ortega

Growing up without a father can have deep psychological effects on a child’s development. Clearly what’s needed is more intact families raising children and men assuming responsibility for one-night stands.


When is the right time become a father? Surely a question most young Generation Y males would avoid answering if given a choice. And yet this is precisely one of the questions explored in a modestly-budgeted film taking the box office by storm titled Instructions Not Included.

A comedy starring Eugenio Derbez, unknown to most in the United States, but a major celebrity in his native Mexico, Instructions Not Included is the story of a womanizing playboy who must accept fatherhood only to fight for his young daughter’s custody.

In truth, the custody fight played out in the movie’s climax is nothing American film-goers haven’t seen before. Think: Kramer vs. Kramer.  But what makes this film stand out is the fact that it’s mostly in Spanish and portrays much of the demographic changes our country is experiencing through a mix of drama and comedy.

As the latest Census Bureau report made clear, the Hispanic population in the United States is huge.  At 50.5 million, virtually every place in our vast country is experiencing the growth of the Hispanic population.  In fact, a higher birth-rate among the Hispanic population, and not immigration levels, is largely responsible for this demographic growth.  Whether we’re ready for it or not, the growth of the Hispanic population is changing our culture and movies like Instructions Not Included are representative of this trend.

This is good, of course, and is yet another chapter of the immigrant story playing out before our eyes. And yet, there is a major crisis plaguing our entire country, especially affecting the Hispanic population, that is not often discussed.  According to a recent report by Child Trends, nearly one out of every two Hispanic babies is born outside of marriage.

Putting aside the moral qualms for a minute, my colleagues at The Heritage Foundation have crunched the numbers and determined that a child born out of wedlock has a higher probability of living in poverty.  This being a particularly pernicious point given the fact that nearly one out of every three Hispanic children is living in poverty.

Moreover, as numerous empirical studies have made clear, growing up without a father can have deep psychological effects on a child’s development.  In the case for girls, a team of psychologists at the University of Canterbury found that teenage girls raised without fathers are more likely to suffer from depression, drop out of school, and have behavioral problems.

There’s no one policy prescription to deal with this, of course, but clearly what’s needed is more intact families raising children and men assuming responsibility for one-night stands.  In Instructions Not Included, “Valentin” – the male protagonist – reluctantly leaves behind his carefree existence to become a full-time father. This doesn’t come easy for Valentin, even going so far as to question out loud why his condom didn’t work or why abortion wasn’t considered while holding his newborn daughter in a moment of frustration of early parenting.

As the movie progresses, it’s clear to everyone watching that Valentin matures into a loving father who would take a bullet for his daughter.

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