BACKGROUND This paper is motivated by the theory that developmental idealism has been disseminated globally and has become an international force for family and demographic change. Developmental idealism is a set of cultural beliefs and values about development and how development relates to family and demographic behavior. It holds that modern societies are causal forces producing modern families, that modern families help to produce modern societies, and that modern family change is to be expected. OBJECTIVE We examine the extent to which developmental idealism has been disseminated in Iran. We also investigate predictors of the dissemination of developmental idealism. METHODS We use survey data collected in 2007 from a sample of women in Yazd, a city in Iran. We examine the distribution of developmental idealism in the sample and the multivariate predictors of developmental idealism. RESULTS We find considerable support for the expectation that many elements of developmental idealism have been widely disseminated. Statistically significant majorities associate development with particular family attributes, believe that development causes change in families, believe that fertility reductions and age-at-marriage increases help foster development, and perceive family trends in Iran headed toward modernity. As predicted, parental education, respondent education, and income affect adherence to developmental idealism. CONCLUSIONS Developmental idealism has been widely disseminated in Yazd, Iran and is related to social and demographic factors in predicted ways. COMMENTS Although our data come from only one city, we expect that developmental idealism has been widely distributed in Iran, with important implications for family and demographic behavior.

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Aim One approach to measure the demographic impacts of death is to examine the number of lost years of life. The present paper aims to estimate the “Years of Lost Life” (YLL) due to the main causes of death in Yazd province of Iran. Method The present study is an epidemiological examination for which the statistical population included all the death incidents in Yazd province (excluding stillbirth cases) over two time periods of 2011 and 2016 with a 5-year distance. The required data were obtained based on the Comprehensive System of Mortality Registration maintained by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education; while the standard life expectancy data were based on the World Health Organization standards using standard life table, level 26 of the West model (Coale and Demeny) for Japanese men and women. The standard YLL was calculated according to the WHO standard using a 0.03 relaxation rate for the future time and weighting coefficient for various ages and life years through the formula using the Microsoft Excel software. Results The findings of the present study suggest that two main causes of YLL in Yazd province during the year of 2011 were cardiovascular difficulties with the rates of 31.6 per 1000 persons for women and 27.1 per 1000 persons for men, and cancers with the rates of 14.9 per 1000 persons for women and 16.2 per 1000 persons for men. While the above numbers in 2016 were, respectively 22.5 per 1000 persons for women and 25.5 per 1000 persons for men due to cardiovascular difficulties; and 18 per 1000 persons for women and 15.5/1000 for men due to various types of cancers. Conclusions Our findings suggest that cardiovascular diseases and cancers are the main factors leading to Years of Lost Lifetime for the residents of Yazd province in Iran.

Background: The social and cultural challenges facing surrogate mothers have been explored in several studies. However, few studies have discussed the motivations of surrogate mothers, their expressions and interpretations of their lived experiences, and their feelings of personal and spiritual satisfaction. Objective: This study aims to present the positive experiences of surrogate mothers from a phenomenological perspective. Materials and Methods: Using a phenomenological approach, this study was conducted from September 2020 to January 2021 in the city of Yazd, Iran. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data among 12 participants with at least 1 experience of surrogate motherhood. Results: Our findings showed that, despite having had harsh physical and socio-cultural experiences such as fear of social labeling and stigma, participants felt a kind of inner satisfaction and a positive view of their actions. A core theme found in the study was mothers’ satisfaction. The main categories included feminine self-sacrifice and positive rewards. Feminine self-sacrifice included 2 sub-categories: creating happiness and conveying motherly feelings, while positive rewards included good childbirth, family acceptance, and halal income. Conclusion: This study showed that surrogate mothers experience conflicting feelings of inner satisfaction and social stigma during surrogacy. Some of those interviewed were willing to go through surrogacy again, but they feared social labeling and stigma, being misunderstood by others who are not fully informed about surrogacy, and being subjected to family and social disapproval. Key words: Surrogate mothers, Emotions, Personal satisfaction, Infertility.

Understanding what youth aspire is widely considered to be a critical step towards recognizing further changes in societies. This article explores young people's aspirations, including personal and collective desires, in a less-studied social setting, Yazd in Iran. This paper also examines the differentiating roles of gender and family income for the importance and chance of accomplishment attached to these ambitions. The data for this study comes from an initial explanatory phase followed by a survey comprising 2700 youth in Yazd. Our findings suggest that the marriage-based and political aspirations are the most and least important dimensions, respectively. We also found that the weight given to aspirations and chance of their realization are generally, but not consistently, different in terms of gender and family income. Accordingly, young women commonly attended more to their ambitions, whereas perceiving them as less reachable than young men. In most cases, youth from low-income families considered their desires less accessible than others. Drawing an importance-expectation matrix for each gender group, 'having a healthy body and soul in aging' was introduced as a critical aspiration with the widest gap. We discuss the results and implications vis-à-vis contextual and structural conditions in which the youth are embedded.