Father's Day 2026
To the Fathers
Who Show Up
A letter of gratitude, encouragement, and recognition for the partners, co-parents, and dads navigating the fourth trimester with everything they have.
Roxanne Stinson
Founder & Lead Doula · Tender Luv Nu-Born Care Corp
This Father's Day, I want to write something I don't see enough of in the postpartum world — a love letter to the fathers and partners who are right there in the thick of it. The ones learning alongside the mother they love. The ones who are scared, exhausted, uncertain, and showing up anyway.
At Tender Luv Nu-Born Care, we spend our days walking alongside families through the fourth trimester. We are in the homes, in the early mornings, in the quiet moments when new parents are figuring out who they are now. And in all of that time, we have witnessed something that doesn't get talked about enough: fathers are going through this too.
Not in the same way as the mother who just gave birth or recovered from surgery. But in their own profound, significant, and often silent way. And they deserve to be seen.
The Fourth Trimester Has Two Parents
So much of postpartum culture is — rightfully — centered on the mother. Her body, her hormones, her healing, her mental health. And we will never stop advocating for that centering. But in our rush to support the mother, we sometimes forget to ask the father: how are you doing?
Because here's what we've seen: the father is often the only adult in the room who is sleep-deprived, emotionally overwhelmed, and figuring out everything for the first time — without the benefit of hormones that create bonding instincts, without a lactation consultant in their corner, and often without anyone checking in on them at all.
You are not a supporting actor in this story. You are a lead. And what you do in these early weeks and months matters in ways you may not fully understand yet.
— Roxanne Stinson, Tender Luv Nu-Born Care
They go back to work after a few days or a week. They hold it together at the office while worrying about what's happening at home. They come home exhausted and immediately become a partner, a caregiver, a support system — often before they've had a single moment to process the fact that their world just changed completely.
And they do it with love. Even when they don't know how. Especially when they don't know how.
What We See Fathers Do Every Day
In our work at Tender Luv, we have the privilege of witnessing fathers in their most unguarded moments. No performance, no pretense — just a person doing their best for a tiny new life and the person they love most. Here is what we see, every single day:
🌙 The 3am Wake-Ups
Even when they have work in the morning. Even when the mother is recovering from birth or surgery. They get up because they want to help, and because the weight of a tiny person in their arms at 3am is something they will remember forever.
🍼Learning Without Being Asked
They watch how the doula holds the baby and they practice. They read about feeding schedules. They ask questions that feel embarrassing to ask but ask them anyway because their child is worth any amount of vulnerability.
💛Showing Up Emotionally
For a partner who may be flooded with postpartum emotions, hormonal shifts, and physical discomfort. Fathers who listen without trying to fix. Who sit with the weight of "I don't know what to do" and choose presence over answers.
🏡Holding the Household
The meals, the laundry, the groceries, the older siblings, the thank-you cards for baby shower gifts — all of it lands somewhere. And so often, it lands on a father who is quietly making sure the ship doesn't sink while everyone else adjusts to this new ocean.
🌸Asking for Help
This one deserves its own line. The fathers who call us. Who say "we need support" even when it wasn't their idea, even when they weren't sure, because they knew their family needed it. That is courage. That is love in action.
A Note to Fathers Who Are Struggling
If you are a new father reading this and things feel harder than you expected — you are not failing. You are not weak. You are not behind.
The fourth trimester is genuinely one of the most disruptive seasons a human being can walk through. The sleep deprivation alone would break most people, and you are doing that while also navigating a relationship that has transformed, a body that may feel foreign to the person you love, an identity that has shifted overnight, and a tiny person who depends on you completely.
Paternal Postpartum Depression Is Real
Research shows that up to 1 in 10 fathers experience postpartum depression or anxiety. It often looks different than maternal PPD — it may show up as irritability, withdrawal, overwork, or a numbing feeling rather than sadness. If any of this resonates, please talk to someone. Your mental health is not separate from your family's wellbeing — it is central to it. Reach out to your physician, a therapist, or call the Postpartum Support International helpline: 1-800-944-4773.
You are allowed to not be okay. You are allowed to need support. And you are allowed to say so out loud — to your partner, to a friend, to a professional. The strongest thing you can do right now is be honest about where you are.
To the Fathers in Surrogacy Families
We want to take a special moment to honor the fathers and co-parents who have walked a longer road to get here. The intended fathers who have been through fertility treatments, waiting lists, legal processes, and the profound trust of placing the most important thing in their lives in the hands of a surrogate.
You did not carry this baby. But you have carried this dream. And that matters. Your love for this child began long before birth, and the fact that the path here was longer and harder doesn't diminish your parenthood — it deepens it.
💛 A word for same-sex parents and non-birthing partners
This letter is for you too. We see you. We celebrate you. However your family was formed, whatever your journey looked like — if you are showing up with love and intention for your child and your family, you are the parent this post is written for. Tender Luv serves all families, in all forms, with complete and equal care.
How to Be the Partner Your Family Needs Right Now
For fathers and partners in the thick of the postpartum period right now, here are the things we have seen make the biggest difference — from years of being in homes with new families:
👂Listen without solving
When your partner is sharing how she feels, the most powerful thing you can do is say "I hear you" before you say "here's what we should do." Feeling heard is often more healing than having an answer.
💤Protect her sleep like it's sacred
Sleep is how she heals — physically and emotionally. Take a shift. Let her sleep. If you have postpartum care support, make sure she uses it. Rest is not a luxury in the fourth trimester. It is medicine.
🤱Hold the baby so she can be a person for a moment
A shower alone. A meal with two hands. A twenty-minute walk. These small things are enormous gifts to a new mother. You holding the baby so she can exist as a person — not just a mother — is one of the most loving things you can do.
📣Advocate for support
If she is struggling and won't ask for help, you can. Calling a postpartum doula, reaching out to her doctor, arranging for family to come — being the one who makes the call when she can't is its own kind of love.
🪞Tell her she is doing beautifully
Even when she doesn't believe it. Especially when she doesn't believe it. She needs to hear it from you more than she needs to hear it from anyone else in the world.
This Father's Day, from all of us at Tender Luv
"To the fathers who hold their babies at 3am and feel something they don't have words for yet — that wordless feeling is love. You are doing it right."
Happy Father's Day · June 21, 2026
From Roxanne and the entire Tender Luv Nu-Born Care family — thank you to every father, every partner, every co-parent who has trusted us to walk alongside your family during the fourth trimester. Watching you grow into your role has been one of the greatest privileges of this work.
You are not just support. You are not backup. You are a parent, in every meaning of that word, from the very first moment.
Happy Father's Day. We see you. We honor you. And we are grateful for you. 🤍
Your Family Deserves Support
Whether you are a mother, a father, or a partner — the fourth trimester is better when you don't go through it alone. Tender Luv is here for your whole family.
Or call / text Roxanne directly at (323) 304-6770