sourcd
As humans, we naturally crave both parents. We need both for guidance.
The thing to know is that what you need is a father/mother figure in your life. You don't need your mom or dad to be your biological mom or dad. It can be a step parent, an aunt/uncle, or a family friend. It can be anyone. But humans need that figure in their life or else they suffer. I say that because I believe that childhood experiences and relationships are the foundation for future relationships.
I have friends who struggle with absent parents, and it definitely affects their relationships with people. They desperately seek that love and validation from others because they're not receiving it from the absent parent. They feel abandoned. Some people usually feel this subconsciously. They don't know it. This is why many will deny the pain or not notice the correlation.
It also affects people differently. For some, the absence of a parent doesn't make them clingy to someone they could look up to in that light. Rather, it makes them distant for fear of losing the person and getting hurt.
It is necessary and important for a child to have both their parents to live with. Both a mother and a father have their roles to play in a child's life. Roles that all serve to fully develop and mold the child. However, since it is not necessarily bad or good to be brought up by only one parent, the effects aren't necessarily better or worse either way. One present parent could be all it takes to raise and nurture a healthy child. Two present parents do not equate to proper and stable upbringing. There's more to raising a child than being physically present. There are dates that even the presence of one of two of the parents could cause. The question lies in that, are both parents mentally, emotionally, financially, and otherwise available?
I do believe upbringing could be worse with two parents depending on the mental health level of the individual parents involved. It's probably a bit better to have two mentally healthy adults rather than only one bringing up a child. Two healthy parents in child raising provide two healthy perspectives, of course. But there's more to the case.
You would need to see any scientifically rigorous studies done on this subject however my thought is that as long as at least one person is willing and able to put in the work and pour in their love and kondness into the child's upbringing and help the child have self confidence that comes from a loving, nurturing home environment, success later in life is dependent on the efforts of the child involved.
I can't say if there would be much or any differences if a child was raised by one or both parents, but I guess that there would. And I sort of feel like it depends on how the ch9ld was raised, the environment he/she finds him/herself, and his/ her mental strength and conditioning. It all depends on a lot more factors than I can accurately list.
I hope that this was interesting to read. Thanks for coming around.