Many of the stresses indicated for the mother apply to the father as well but this is in part dependent upon how much time he spends at home and how active an interest he takes in his child. With the mother spending so much time on caring for the handicapped child, the father may feel neglected. As the child reaches adolescence, the father has to accept the possibility that he may have to support him for the remainder of his life, rather than having the child become financially independent after an expected (and socially accepted) length of time. It the handicapped child is a boy, the father may severely miss the normal father-son relationship he may have dreamed of.