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I'm looking for a word that effectively conveys an attitude showing a preference for having a child related to oneself ... ie, a lineally/genetically-related child.

In particular, a word that would fit the following example:

  • Michael had a _____ attitude, he wanted children of his own

and / or possibly a noun form:

  • Michael was a _____ unlike Sam who was a non-_____

which would be helpful in distinguishing between people that prefer to have their own children and those that are happy to adopt, foster, etc.

I had considered "autogenic" ... "auto" meaning self, and "genic" meaning "produced by" ... and even "progenic" (or "progenetic" possibly) which might work here, "pro-", I take to mean "following" or "in favour of" which in combination with "genic" / "genetic" relates to genetic lineage or heritage. However, I'm not sure I've constructed them appropriately, or whether they're right or not.

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    I've never heard a word for this.
    – Barmar
    Aug 18 at 0:49
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    I doubt there is a word for this. What's wrong with the clear Michael wants to father his own children? I expect OP will tell us what's wrong with it, so amn't making this an answer.
    – High Performance Mark
    Aug 18 at 6:48
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    I've tidied this, Tom. // If you can't find a candidate in a dictionary (check several), there's at least a strong possibility that it is unwise to use it and expect people to gather what you mean by it (though this can depend on context). Coining neologisms is certainly possible (new words are constantly added to the lexicon), but until there is a reasonable level of usage and understanding, 'D-I-Y-isms' are off-topic on ELU, which is dedicated to standard usage/s. And 'a progenitorial attitude' might well be taken to mean 'an attitude similar to that held by many forefathers'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Aug 18 at 10:26
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    @EdwinAshworth Ok, thank you. I wasn't aware that this was off-topic, so apologies about that.
    – TomDot Com
    Aug 18 at 12:39
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    If you accept what HighPerformanceMark suggested as 'clear and what I want to ultimately express', how does that fall short of exactly what you want? Though you didn't stipulate it, how could looking for a convenient shorthand…' matter?
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Aug 21 at 21:35

2 Answers 2

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I can't think of an adjective but you could use a terse caption:

wants his own children

willing to adopt/foster children

Using the word "progeny" instead of "children" adds a rather clinical or anthropological tone.

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Progenitorial is a word with the components you listed that could be understood as having this meaning: an ancestor in a direct line.

[Merriam-Webster]

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  • A 'progenitorial attitude' might well be taken to mean 'an attitude similar to that held by many forefathers'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Aug 18 at 10:27

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