There’s no question that growing up fatherless, or with a mostly absent father, is a huge handicap for children, especially boys. But what can be done about it? Not clear.

Opponents of same-sex marriage have argued that its legalization, universal in this country due to the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, would weaken the institution of marriage. Writing as a same-sex marriage supporter in August 2011 (when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton opposed it), I wrote, “I think the institution of the family is less threatened by a few people who want to get married than by the very many more people who get divorced or who have children without getting married at all.” In other words and in many cases, fatherlessness.