The first thing lawyers tell divorcing parents is to break off all communication with the other spouse. The second thing they tell them is that the mother will almost always get custody of the children and the father doesn't stand a chance, unless he has tens of thousands of dollars, and even then he probably won't succeed. Moreover, few states will enforce a father's visitation rights if the mother does not want to cooperate. On the other hand, child support awards against fathers are increasingly set high and vigorously enforced. Americans, both men and women, have learned the lesson that fathers are not important in their children's lives.
Biological fathers are, in fact, very important for the healthy development of children.
Without fathers, they are much more likely to grow up damaged. Unfortunately, it will take some time to incorporate this new knowledge into the structure of our social institutions, and begin to reverse the negative impacts of father deprivation on our culture. Til then, may we all be fortunate to survive our folly and not experience real helplessness at the hands of social misfits raised in absent-father homes.