Having a child changes the way you think. With a baby’s birth, parents become flooded with new responsibilities and emotions. In this special report, we explore how those experiences forge a bond between parent and child.
The connection does not depend on shared genes, as many adoptive moms and dads can attest. Nor does pregnancy explain it all. The challenges of child care rewire both parents’ brains so that being a mother or father becomes easier.
That moms and dads have a strong influence on their kids is clear. Now we also know that on both sides of the bond, brains respond.
Read the articles in this Special Report
Maternal Mentality: Pregnancy and childbirth shape a woman’s mental makeover
How Dads Develop: When men morph into fathers, they experience a neural revival that benefits their children
