Lads to Dads

The birth of a baby can sometimes mean big changes for the new parents. It can often mean extra pressures and demands when the mothers and fathers are young.

(Photo above: Cieran McAuley from Opportunity Youth which runs a scheme to help young fathers with their parenting skills)

A new BBC One Northern Ireland documentary follows a number of young men aged between 15 and 23 as they try to cope with the demands of fatherhood. Lads to Dads gives viewers a fresh perspective into the emotional, personal and social pressures these young fathers deal with in Belfast and the stigma often attached with being a father at a young age. It focuses on the personal experiences of three young men.

It follows each of their individual journeys as one of them prepares to become a father for the first time, while the other two fathers reveal the emotional and relationship challenges that they deal with and the dramatic changes it makes to their young lives. This can include wanting to play a more significant role in their child’s life or how to adjust to being a father at a young age. Often, unplanned pregnancies mean that young men have to face up to dealing with the responsibility of becoming a father and the programme looks at the effect this has on them, their partners and their parents.

Lads to Dads, made by Tern TV and produced and directed by Aaron Black, also gets access to a fathers’ scheme that was set up to help young men get a better understanding of parenting skills and responsibilities. Viewers get to observe how the scheme aims to address and support these young fathers and listen to the issues relative to these young men including sex education, self-esteem, anger and frustration.

Executive producer Alison Millar said: “Perhaps society is more accustomed to hearing about young mothers while the fathers tend to fade into the background and are invisible. Yet, many young fathers also want to face up to the responsibilities of becoming a parent and want to play an active role in the upbringing of their child. But they are often forgotten about and don’t get, or seek, the support that they need. Lads to Dads gives viewers the opportunity to get an insight into the challenges, fears and hopes that young fathers can face and the stigma many young men have of becoming a father at a young age which can be just as real for them as it is for young mothers.

“Lads To Dads is an intimate documentary that follows three young fathers who are each faced with different challenges and different environments in which to become, and to be, a young father in today’s society.