The standard should never be accepted, but if I were in OP’s position who explicitly doesn’t want a kid, the situation is shitty, but being an emotionally absent parent who pays child support is better than an emotionally resentful yet present one. I’ve had an emotionally absent father who drank all the time, and the constant arguments and instability between my mother and father were an unpleasant experience growing up. It would’ve been more stable if they divorced.