New dads are full of raging hormones, according to researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University.
Close contact with their newborns triggers a surge of “parenting hormones” that alters the brain to make men want to bond with their babies.
Women are known to experience surges in the hormones oxytocin and prolactin after childbirth, their release tied to muscle contractions during birth and lactation during breastfeeding.
But who knew that dads going gaga over their newborns had equal doses of those hormones?
“This seems to be evolution’s way of helping men turn into good parents,” neuroscientist Ruth Feldman told The Sunday Times of London. “These hormones seem to have a powerful role in helping men bond with their newly born children.”
And while the surge makes women more affectionate, men act out their baby love through “active play,” the study found.