Desire to have other children in families with a chronically disabled child and its effect on the relationship of the parents

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the desire of the parents who had a chronically disabled child to have other children and to investigate the effect of having a disabled child on the relationship of the parents. Material and Methods:The families of 145 chronically disabled children were included in the study. After the sociodemographic information belonging to the child and family were obtained, the prepared questionnaire form was used to interrogate if the parents lived together, the number of children in the family, if they wished to have other children and the relation of the disabled child with the household. Ethics committee approval was obtained from Dokuz Eylül University (date: 18.10.2012, decision number, 2012/34-13). The data obtained in the study were expressed as figures and percentages.Results: While 91.7% of the parents continued their relationship, 2.8% were divorced and 1.4% were left by their spouses. The rate of the parents who did not wish to have (or did not have) other children after a disabled child was found to be 65.2%. The major reason for the families not to wish to have other children was found to be the fact that they thought they could not spare enough time for their disabled child. While 35.1% of the parents stated that clemped together more tightly, 35.2% stated that their concerns about the future increased further. Fifty eight percent of the parents stated that social relations and community involvements were not affected, whereas others stated that they were affected in different ways. Conclusions:Although the relationship between the parents was not affected to a great extent in families who had chronically disabled children, it was found that parents intensively experienced concern for the future. It was found that this also affected the desire of the parents who had a chronically disabled child to have other children with the concern that the child will be disabled. (Turk Pediatri Ars 2015; 50: 163-9)

A Comparison of Family Attention and Burnout in Families of Children with Disabilities and Families of Children Without Disabilities

“…According to a study conducted in Turkey, 66.20% of mothers of children with disabilities stated they did not want to have children again, while 33.80% stated that they wanted to have children again. 18 In our study, 79.30% of mothers whose first child had a disability wanted to have more children, while 74.60% of mothers whose last child had a disability did not want to have more children. When those with one child were excluded from the group of parents whose first child had a disability, the percentage of those not wanting to have more children rose to 86.70%.…”

New Challenges with Treatment Advances in Newborn Infants with Genetic Disorders and Severe Congenital Malformations

“…Parents of children with trisomy 13 or 18 reported a divorce rate of only 3%, whereas 68% reported positive effects on their relationship [ 10 ]. In a Turkish study, the divorce rate of parents with a disabled child were low and most reported positive effects on their relationships [ 33 ]. Therefore, the available data do not support the idea that having a disabled child increases divorce rates.…”