Of all human relationships, the parent-child bond is surely the strongest. While romantic relationships are often intense for relatively short periods of time, the biologic connection between the parent and his/her child is permanent, reinforced by the genetic imperative, a force that governs life in general.
Human parents are both conscious of the physical and emotional needs of their offspring and subconsciously devoted to protecting their own genes that the child now carries. In other words, we dearly love our children for both altruistic and selfish reasons. No other human relationship (except perhaps that between grandparents and their grandchildren) shares this dual motivation.
Indeed, while marriages often end in divorce, very few parents divorce their children and, in such cases, some form of mental illness or emotional turmoil in the parent is usually to blame. On the other hand, the genetic bond is unidirectional; the child may be devoted to their parents due to the nurturing that they provided and the traits that they passed along but their "genetic focus" is on their own offspring. Above all else, life is devoted to protecting and perpetuating itself; human life is no different in this respect.
Human parents are both conscious of the physical and emotional needs of their offspring and subconsciously devoted to protecting their own genes that the child now carries. In other words, we dearly love our children for both altruistic and selfish reasons. No other human relationship (except perhaps that between grandparents and their grandchildren) shares this dual motivation.
Indeed, while marriages often end in divorce, very few parents divorce their children and, in such cases, some form of mental illness or emotional turmoil in the parent is usually to blame. On the other hand, the genetic bond is unidirectional; the child may be devoted to their parents due to the nurturing that they provided and the traits that they passed along but their "genetic focus" is on their own offspring. Above all else, life is devoted to protecting and perpetuating itself; human life is no different in this respect.
