great heavens

In experiment #1:

They would separate infant Rhesus monkeys at birth from their mothers.

And place them in a cage with two surrogate mothers.

A wire mother who provided nourishment.

And a cloth mother who provided physical contact.

The monkey would spend the majority of the time with the Cloth Mother even if they didn't provide anything meaningful beyond contact. They would be braver with the Cloth Mother present, they would explore more. When confronted with a frightening object they would take refuge with the Cloth Mother.

I love the Murder Family concept as much as the next deranged autistic weirdo on this website but let's be honest. Will was never going to make a good Father. As much as he wanted a connection he couldn't bring himself to form one with the kid served up on a silver platter to him.

Will was the Wire Mother. He would have provided for Abigail, taught her appropriately but never be there for her emotionally like she would have needed.

Hannibal was the Cloth Mother. He didn't really care about Abigail. She was a means to an end. He provided comfort but nothing else, not at least what we would consider as appropriate nourishment.