The extended family has been an essential part of Chinese society, both in cultural ideal and social reality.(1) The traditional Chinese ideal has been for co-residence of parents with their married sons and their families in a large, joint-stem household unit. The reality, in Taiwan and elsewhere, has deviated from the ideal in several ways. First, for any given young couple, relatives necessary for a joint-stem family may not be available at one or another stage of the family life cycle. Secondly, even when all the necessary relatives are available, the emphasis has been on the vertical filial tie, rather than the horizontal fraternal tie, so the predominant fact has been co-residence of parents with a married son. Married brothers usually-do not live together and, if they do, it is usually when the parent is or has been in the same unit.

The extended family has been an essential part of Chinese society, both in cultural ideal and social reality.(1) The traditional Chinese ideal has been for co-residence of parents with their married sons and their families in a large, joint-stem household unit. The reality, in Taiwan and elsewhere, has deviated from the ideal in several ways. First, for any given young couple, relatives necessary for a joint-stem family may not be available at one or another stage of the family life cycle. Secondly, even when all the necessary relatives are available, the emphasis has been on the vertical filial tie, rather than the horizontal fraternal tie, so the predominant fact has been co-residence of parents with a married son. Married brothers usually-do not live together and, if they do, it is usually when the parent is or has been in the same unit.

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This paper examines the antifertility effects of an IUD (Lippes Loop) subsequent to the discontinuation of its use. The experiences of 4449 urban Taiwanese women who discontinued the use of the Lippes Loop initially inserted during the period July 1962 to May 1965 are analysed. These women were followed annually for 6 to 9 years through clinic visits and home interviews. The effect of duration of IUD use on average fecundability and sterility is examined after controlling for women's age at discontinuation of use of the IUD. The results indicate that, among Taiwanese women, the level of sterility increases and the average fecundability decreases with the increase in the duration of IUD use. These differentials are quite substantial and are mainly observed among those women who were at least 30 years of age at the discontinuation of IUD use. Various implications of this finding are discussed. The results refer only to the Lippes Loop and cannot be generalized for other types of IUD.

No abstract