A father's defined as a male parent of an offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother. Father-child relationship The father-child relationship's the defining factor of the fatherhood role. "The majority of Fathers are naturally protective and supportive responsible parents who're able to engender a number of significant benefits for themselves, their communities, and most importantly, their children." Involved fathers offer developmentally specific p… (More on Paternal)