At first, it seemed like the right decision. When Jasmine was born in May 2023, her father, a 32-year-old man from Sichuan province, China chose to do what society rarely expects of men: Stay home and raise his daughter.
No salary, no office, no applause.
Just 6 a.m. bottle feeds, back-breaking diaper changes, and lullabies instead of deadlines while dealing with joint pains.
His job in pet food sales had been flexible.
His wife’s wasn’t—she had a stable government position and was just out of her maternity leave. With no help from grandparents and no money for a nanny, “Jasmine’s Dad” (as he’s known online) quit his 20,000-yuan-a-month job to become a full-time father.
The internet applauded. But his real world?
Didn’t.
Instead of support, he got scrutiny.
His wife, often home only on weekends, criticized more than she comforted.
“She got upset when I didn’t change Jasmine’s clothes,” he said.
“But I was just too overwhelmed to manage it.”
Then came the pneumonia scare. Jasmine was in critical condition. He stayed by her hospital bed for five days—no sleep, no shower only to be blamed by both families.
Eventually, the stress fractured his marriage. The couple divorced. But what hit even harder came after.
He was diagnosed with postpartum depression, something most people don’t even think men can get.
“People forget that fathers are new to parenting too,” one person commented online.
“It’s their first time, just like it is for mums.”
He now earns just 4,000 yuan a month through baby product live-streaming, while raising Jasmine solo. Exhaustion gave him joint inflammation. The emotional toll gave him silence, and online reactions were mixed.
“What do you have to be depressed about?” one user wrote.
Another fired back: “He’s a father, not a robot.”
The wife says he did a poor job of taking care of the kid, and they’re now separated.
This is why I feel like we shouldn’t fully dive into something we don’t know about. I agree that no father wants to slouch when it comes to taking care of their kids but not all men are natural caretakers.
The father or even the mother might be losing it now because of their differences but the real damage will always fall on the baby.
It’s really weird how even good intentions and good actions can turn things into worst scenarios.
Well, I write daily (mostly the weird stuff I find interesting). If you like this whole no nonsense approach, feel free to bookmark and come back tomorrow or continue reading other stories to make up your mind.
See ya, internet friend.
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