The shared role, status, or relationship of being a father together with another person; joint paternity.
From cofather + -ship (Old English suffix denoting state, condition, or office). The suffix -ship has been used for centuries to create abstract nouns describing statuses and relationships.
Cofathership acknowledges what anthropologists know: parenting has never been purely biological. Across cultures and history, multiple males have shared the father role—from uncles to grandfathers to community leaders—and this modern word finally names that reality.
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