Joanna Siudem-Kuna
Developmental Psychology, Volume 27 Issue 3, 2022, pp. 51-71
https://doi.org/10.4467/20843879PR.22.018.17679For the last several decades, psychologists have been paying attention to the changes in the Polish family model and the transformation of the father’s role within it. These are the processes that were also significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the research was to understand how the Polish young men awaiting the birth of their first child experience fatherhood in this time of crisis. Seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with men aged 26–35. Their transcripts were subject to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The results showed that the pandemic took away the opportunity to act in areas that were previously available to fathers from the participants. At the same time, the pandemic gave them new areas where they could fulfil themselves as fathers. Despite the limited access to prenatal care services, participants got a chance to be more present in their unborn child’s life. Moreover, they got a chance to be more active at the stage of waiting for their birth.