A recent WORLD Magazine article is drawing attention to a group that is often overlooked in conversations about abortion: fathers. While women frequently receive post-abortion support, many men quietly carry grief and regret for years without realizing help is available.
In “Don’t Forget Dad,” Lauren Canterberry explores how pro-life ministries are increasingly recognizing men as an important part of the abortion conversation, offering post-abortion recovery programs and fatherhood resources alongside compassionate care for women.
The heartbreaking testimony of Sean Corcoran is a powerful example of how men are often marginalized in the abortion conversation. Corcoran was 19 when his girlfriend became pregnant during their freshman year of college. Although he wanted to keep the baby and his father even offered to adopt the child, she chose to have an abortion. In the aftermath, his girlfriend received counseling and was allowed to take time away from school to recover, but when Corcoran sought help from the same counselor, he said he was told, “No, this doesn’t affect you because you’re a man.” Left without support, he carried the emotional trauma for years before eventually finding a counselor who helped him recognize the abortion as a source of his grief and begin the process of healing.
On the podcast, The Simple Truth, Corcoran shared how the pain of the abortion led him down a dangerous path.
“Clearly something was affecting me because I failed out of college, moved home, failed out of another college two more times, and started all this destructive behavior in my life, drugs and alcohol and women, and anything that I could do to cover up the way that I was feeling. At no point, did I make a connection that the way that I was feeling was caused by the abortion because I was specifically told that it didn’t affect me.”
Corcoran’s experience underscores findings from the Vitae Research Institute’s 2026 study, A Few Good Men: Increasing the Masculine Presence, which concludes that fathers play a significant role in pregnancy decisions but are often left unprepared and unsupported. As Vince DiCaro, Care Net’s Chief Outreach Officer and a member of the study’s advisory committee, noted, “Previously, Care Net’s national surveys on abortion found that both women and men agree that the father of the baby is the most influential voice in a woman’s pregnancy decision. This new research further establishes the importance of engaging men in a positive way on life decisions.”
The findings also echo a theme in the latest book by Care Net President and CEO Roland Warren, The Alternative to Abortion: Why We Must Be Pro Abundant Life. Roland challenges the cultural expectation that men should step aside and simply say, “Whatever you decide.” Instead, he argues that fathers should engage in the decision, share responsibility, and provide the support women often need to confidently choose life.
In the book, Roland also notes the deep pain suffered by those who have experienced abortion.
“I can attest to countless stories of women and men who have struggled with past regrets for abortion decisions. When the abortion decision is made, there is often a rush of relief and regret is low. But as time passes, regret emerges as the realization sets in that one has taken an innocent human life… Women and men are often haunted for decades with guilt and shame from regret that requires deep spiritual healing.”
Care Net’s Abortion Recovery and Care (ARC) ministry helps women and men find healing after abortion by connecting them with trained leaders through local pregnancy centers and churches. The ministry also provides resources and training to equip churches and pregnancy centers to offer biblically based recovery programs for both women and fathers.
One of those resources is Care Net’s book, Reclaiming Fatherhood. In the latest version, a focus group of men share their abortion stories and journey together to find God’s grace and restoration.
“The way men and women experience and process abortion is very different,” said Jill Marquis, an author of the book and Care Net’s Director of Abortion Recovery and Care (ARC). “What I have heard from each of these gentlemen was a deep sadness. The abortion had stolen their voice, their manhood, their leadership, and their children. Each man said that he didn’t know how deep his wounds were, only that there was something very wrong.”
As for Corcoran, sharing his abortion story publicly for the first time at a church retreat became an important part of his healing journey. Convinced that other fathers needed the support he never received, he stepped away from a law career to lead Men for Life, where he now helps men find healing after abortion and equips them to become engaged fathers and advocates for unborn life. His message to fathers is simple: They do not have to suffer in silence.
“Men think that they’re alone,” Corcoran told WORLD. “They think they are the only ones because men aren’t talking about it.”