My DH has grown up not knowing his dad and he still questions why his dad wouldn't have wanted anything to do with him from about the age of 7 and just stopped contact, which I think is harder for him to accept than if he never knew him at all.

But at the end of the day my DH has grown in to a happy & successful man and he strongly believes a single parent who loves and adores their childen, is a better suituation to grow up in than in a hostile relationship where the parents stay together for the sake of the kids or use kids as pawns in emotional blackmail.

On the otherhand one of his best mates has been left to look after his 3 daughters, and this is something his mate wouldn't change for the world, even though he struggles to juggle everything.