Hire A Dad?

[kvalidir]

I know Japanese culture is significantly different to ours, (you can hire people to hold you and wipe your tears away if you are suffering a trauma and need to be able to vent it for example), but this seems like such an enormous and unforgivable deception for a child that I can't see that this will ever end well, plus i'm not sure that the mother isn't doing this for her own reasons as well (George Clooney as your ex anyone)? What does everyone else think? Particularly interested to hear from anyone who has experience of Japanese culture so I can get a handle on whether, contextually, this is normal. x

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-46261699

[Mamyalynne]

Not comfortable with this, children deserve honesty.

[kvalidir]

I think generally that's absolutely true Mamy, I mean I think if you know your child's Dad is a bad lot or a no hoper, it's fine to just say I'm so sorry I don't know where he is, to spare some pain until the child is old enough to fully appreciate that people don't always behave the way you would ideally hope that they would, but inventing a perfect stranger with a back story to impersonate the child's father is shocking I think. Surely she'll just feel SO betrayed to know that the man she loves was spending time with her because he was paid to?

[Mamyalynne]

When she discovers the truth it will be like a bereavement in a way, sad.

[woofgang]

Not sure how "normal" this is for Japan, but wasn't there a case recently of a bloke who couldn't get custody of his children with his ex wife in part because she had been killed and her relatives (who had the children) had told them that she was travelling on business?

[ummmm]

It's cruel. She grew up without a father and will eventually lose her pretend father. It'll be devastating although I understand her mothers good intentions.

[albaqwerty]

The mother is storing up problems for the future.

I wonder if her real dad will hear of the story ?

I'm sure there's a saying ''the road to hell is paved with good intentions.;;

[marval]

I do not like this idea, it will all end in tears. The child is bound to find out one day that he is not her real father.