---
title: "More Evidence of Preference for Sons"
description: "This posting is an excerpt from a FactTank article about unmarried fatherhood, and which fathers are more likely to acknowledge paternity when asked. Unmarried fathers of sons are slightly more likely to acknowledge paternity than fathers of daughters."
date: "2013-07-29"
authors:
  - name: "D’Vera Cohn"
    job_title: "Former Senior Writer/Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/dvera-cohn/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2013/07/29/more-evidence-of-preference-for-sons/"
categories:
  - "Birth Rate & Fertility"
  - "Discrimination & Prejudice"
  - "Fertility"
  - "Gender"
  - "Gender & LGBTQ"
  - "Gender Equality & Discrimination"
---

# More Evidence of Preference for Sons

As the number of babies born to unmarried mothers has risen, so has interest from government officials in persuading unmarried fathers to sign a paternity acknowledgement form that gets their name added to the birth certificate. It's standard practice now for hospitals to ask those dads to sign--but not everyone does. What makes a difference in who signs? [Read more at FactTank](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/07/29/more-evidence-of-preference-for-sons/).