As adults, I feel like we (women) who grew up without fathers are supposed to just "get over it" pretty much. It's not so much that society feels that way, maybe it's just my own personal belief because that's what seemed healthiest for me, before I was willing to explore it more. I never met my father, don't even know his name. At 14 I was adopted and I have a great "Dad" who I love to pieces. He's one of my favorite people in the world. Being that I was 14 and growing up, I wanted zero physical affection from him, understandably. Getting a Dad that late in life didn't solve the "Daddy Issues" that I identified I deal with much later on in life, actually within the past few years. Now as an adult, I think never having a real father has shaped parts of my character. Something nobody really talks about much is how this affects women in their relationships. Some women say they are drawn to negative situations. Personally I am drawn to the opposite. My partner must make me feel safe, loved, he must be able to protect me, be kind to me and be able to take care of me, emotionally at least. Currently I am engaged and in a wonderful relationship. We are both in our 30's, he never had any children of his own, I have boys. Career wise, he's very successful. With his personality type, he's naturally a leader, he's literally a boss of dozens of people, he's the more dominant one out of us. Which comfortably led us into the "taboo" area of him being "Daddy". It's not something we share publicly at all, neither of us are ashamed of it or anything like that, but we know other people may not view it in the same nice way that we do. Honestly, I think it's very healthy for me. And him as well. I always call him Daddy. If I call him anything else, it's odd. He calls me Kitten and his little girl and his sweet potato, all the cute things. He babies me to the extreme. He prefers that I don't work, don't stress about anything and that I am able to live very comfortably and happily with him. We live very "normal" lives, in this fashion that coddles both of our personalities and emotions. He likes to be in charge (but isn't bossy) and likes to take care of others, especially me and our family. This type of relationship nurtures that, and gives me a sense of peace and stability as well as deep trust, vulnerability and I'll admit, a certain level of dependence on him. We don't go all out DDLG, there's nothing like bottles and diapers going on, not our style. However our bedroom has way more stuffed animals than most couples our age, I'm sure! He loves to do the "Daddy" things, surprise me with presents, make sure I have everything I need and want. It could be sparkly earrings, or very serious adult things, such as when we had to put my old cat down because of kidney failure. It was expensive, my dog that I brought into the relationship also has expensive health issues, it's just an unspoken agreement that Daddy handles all the things. In the moment when I had to decide if I wanted my cat to pass peacefully and mercifully or if we wanted to spend thousands on surgeries and medicines for an elderly cat, it was 100% my decision. I am an adult of course and he does respect me as a woman. During that time (it was a few weeks ago) even with other people in the room, a vet, techs, it was the absolute best feeling to be able to bury my face in his strong shoulders and cry my eyes out, ugly cries and know that I wasn't alone and everything would be ok because Daddy was there to take care of it and more so to take care of me. The moral of it all, you really don't ever Have to let go of wanting a father or father figure. It's something all people instinctively want and need to some extent. Being deprived of that for any reason is not your fault at all and you have to know that. It's ok to be sad about it, or to be angry, feel whatever you need to feel. It's also ok to admit that it may have caused you some issues or that you think it has affected who you are in ways. It's smart to identify it the best you can, to deal with it and explore what you feel you missed out on, as well as to seek out those things in ways that work for you...and perhaps your partner if that's an option. I hope this helps.