New Dads Need Support Too

When I first became a dad, I expected it to be exhilarating/exhausting, but I didn't anticipate how isolating it would feel. Dads seemed to be completely excluded from parenting culture. I thought to myself: how can any new parent support their partner and/or newborn without any support system for themselves? So, I launched DILF (Dad I’d Like To...FRIEND) — a podcast which has since broken onto Apple's Top 50 Parenting Podcast charts around the world, with a focus on building more support for dads… so they can better support their partner, their children & themselves. Recently, I’ve taken this project one step further with a nonprofit called ALL PARENTS WELCOME (APW).

The focus of APW is to improve the mental health of both birthing moms & non-birthing parents — including parents through adoption, marriage, surrogacy, many members of the LGBTQ+ community, and dads. Because we need to work together to address the serious issues affecting ALL parents: from the fight for paid leave and affordable childcare to more perinatal assistance for new parents and the elimination of parental gender stereotypes.

As one of our first initiatives, we’ve taken five years of interviews and leading research within the parenting space to create an easily-digestible, sanity-saving guide to better support the largest segment of non-birthing parents: new dads — providing the tools needed to become the type of actively-engaged, emotionally-evolved parent that every partner and child needs and deserves.

It’s the book I wish I had when I first became a parent.

But to bring this book to life, we need YOUR help!

So, if you’re a new or expectant parent, or a dad who could have ever used more support, or a mom who wishes your partner had more resources to better support you and themselves… this is your opportunity to make that a reality for new parents across the globe.