It is argued that the presence of a father, during the daughter's formative years, acts as a deterrent against his daughter-grown-to- maturity becoming promiscuous. Given that multiple sexual partners is the best predictor for contracting a sexually transmitted disease, rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S. were compared to rates of out-of-wedlock births across the U.S. The results were significant. As rates of out-of-wedlock births increased, rates of sexually transmitted diseases also increased. The association occurred (1) if rates of out-of-wedlock births and rates of sexually transmitted diseases were surveyed from the same time frame as well as (2) if the rates of out-of-wedlock births were surveyed from a prior generation and the rates of sexually transmitted diseases were surveyed from a subsequent generation. Neither pattern held for rates of divorce and rates of sexually transmitted diseases.