How Seahorse Women Prevent Deadbeat Dads

Just the other day, I was talking with a friend about the phenomenon of men sowing their seeds everywhere they go and moving on to the next exciting option, or the deadbeat dad syndrome. Well, a National Geographic article in honor of Father's Day has sparked in my mind what may be a solution. One solution might be a practice that is, as of yet, not so socially accepted: stay-at-home dads. Of course, this would require keeping "dad" around through the long pregnancy until there's a little one to stay home for. But seahorse women have found an ingenious solution. They say, "Hey baby, you wanna mate? Yeah, I'm feelin' ya. Come on over, sugar," at which point they do their dance, get their flirt on, then promptly stuff their man full of eggs and shout, "Alright, chump, you got your action, now let's see you 'deal with the consequences' of your decisions, eh?" For some reason, they then stick around for the duration of the breeding season, or possibly future breeding seasons.

Of course, "mom's" parental role is finished as soon as she has dumped her eggs off. After "dad" goes through labor and pumps out a dozen to several hundred youngsters, he's done, too. But he sticks around with the wicked woman who did this to him. Maybe he's thinking, "Shoot, I saw my fish buddy have sex the other day, and he had a whirl and was scot-free to go find another chick to have fun with. If seahorse women are gonna be pulling this crap, I might as well at least stick around with the one who seems to like me..."

Male pregnancy. Clever, wicked seahorse babes.



Note: for more unusual parenting, read this article published for Mother's Day.