Anonymous wrote:No.

If the mother was dead then maybe.

Agreed. An involved mother is a dealbreaker for me.

Anonymous wrote:Sure, women with their own baggage will not be turned off by a single father with 3 children. However, single women with no children will not be interested.

Unless he's rich.

I think single young women w/o kids (who expect to have their own biological kids) would not be interested in a divorced man with kid(s).

Single women with kid(s) would be interested in single dads - divorced or widower.

There are also women who are not great catch themselves (older, physically unattractive, in low paying jobs) who would be willing to go for a divorced dad.

Widower dads are more palatable than divorced dads. I think the reason is that women are more amenable to adjusting to not so great guys for the sake of marriage and kids, so there has to be something really wrong with a man for his wife to divorce him. And if ex-wife did not want him - why would another girl want him?

Not PC I know, and not even true in all instances - but by and large true.

No.

If the mother was dead then maybe.

Honestly, speaking as a single mom of one young child, it would really depend. On the guy and what personally about him I liked. On the kids and whether I liked them. On whether I wanted to have any other kids. On how his children got along with mine. On what his relationship with their mom/s is/was. On how involved he is.

If a single dad who is very involved (joint or full custody, widower or functional coparenting relationship), I would still be interested.

If a single dad with limited involvement (less than 50% custody, not very interested in his kids), I would be suspicious as to why he did not want to spend more time with his kids.

And the relationship with the ex is important. If she's out of the picture completely, that would be ideal. If she's in the picture and they have a cordial, positive relationship, that's also wonderful. If she's in the picture and their relationship is dysfunctional, I would run like hell.

Honestly when I was in my 20s I always kind of fantasized about meeting and marrying a young single dad with little children who would fall in love with me partly for my innate mothering-abilities. Of course, I assumed the bio-mom would be out of the picture and didn't factor in any real life step-parent difficulties. But now I am in my 30s and married to a man who had no children (well, now he has mine) and every time I see facebook postings of the few friends I have whom this happened to, I think it's very sweet and fortunate (despite the misfortune that made it happen).

So, in short, yes.

OP here. So just to clarify -- this would be a dad to three young children -- the dad would be in his early 30s.

I suppose I was curious because there were some surprising responses in the other thread about a single mom with three kids. Some of the responses admonished her for wanting to date while having young children. Was interested if the tables would be turned if it were a single dad.

Though to give most of DCUM credit -- most of the responses were supportive of the single mother.

Me personally, I don't know if I'd be that interested in something long term. It's a lot to sign up for. Maybe but it would depend on his qualities. Also he should be open to having more kids if I want them.

Anonymous wrote:Sure, women with their own baggage will not be turned off by a single father with 3 children. However, single women with no children will not be interested.

Umm, wow. Thanks, jackass. My dad was a widower with two children when my mom married him.
Yes, some women would still be interested in a single father. I've dated guys with kids before. My only hesitation to three kids would be that I very much want to experience being pregnant/giving birth, so he would need to be open to more children. And I'd want to know back story on the ex because of potential drama.

Anonymous wrote:Not at all. I would, however, be turned off by a single father who wasn't involved in his kids on a regular basis.

To be clear, that's "Not at all" in response to "would you be turned off by . . . " not the question in the title.

I am 2 months into a relationship with a man with 3 kids. I have no children of my own. I love it!

Sure, women with their own baggage will not be turned off by a single father with 3 children. However, single women with no children will not be interested.

DH has a friend who had 3 kids, 2 different women and had partial custody. He is remarried now with another 2 kids. His wife is total trash but..he's married.

I'd say you have a better shot then him given they are all from one woman and you have primary custody. you might have to adjust your age range a little but I think you'll find someone.

Not at all. I would, however, be turned off by a single father who wasn't involved in his kids on a regular basis.

Hypothetically. Would you be turned off by a single father of three children (all from the same woman) with primary custody? Do you think he shouldn't date anybody until the kids are grown and gone? Opinions?