By definition, ALL humans have fathers. Even a ‘bastard’ has a father.
There is a difference between being a father and being a sperm donor.
These young men don’t have fathers, and therefore are by and large incapable of being fathers themselves. And that’s the root of the problem.
I don't spend much time in alternate realities.
In my universe I have never in my long life heard or read of the male of an animal producing young referred to as a "father;" Not a dog, a cat, a horse, a cow or any other mammal.
All educated, rational human beings with English as their first language are aware of that.