Establishment of Legal Paternity for Children of Unmarried American Women

Anderson, Kermyt G.

doi:10.1007/s12110-017-9284-0

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…The association between paternal investment and birth outcomes has been explored with the use of birth registry data. For example, establishment of paternity for children of unmarried mothers was used as a proxy for both high paternity confidence and male willingness to commit to paternal investment; it was also found to predict birth outcomes, including low birth weight [25]. Missing fathers' names in birth registry data can also be treated as a surrogate measure of a lack of paternal involvement and was found to be a risk factor of infant mortality and low birth weight [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal investment and low birth weight – The mediating role of parity

2019

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According to life-history theory, paternal investment affects the well-being of offspring. We hypothesized that environmental stress caused by a lack of paternal investment may diminish maternal resource allocation during pregnancy, especially for women who already have dependent children. Our study was conducted on a representative group of more than 80,500 singleton, live-born, full-term infants born in Krakow, Poland in the period 1995–2009. Birth data were obtained from the birth registry. We found that missing data about fathers (a proxy measure of low paternal investment) was associated with higher probability of multiparous mothers giving birth to low-birth-weight infants (1.48; 95% CI 1.05–2.08), but this was not the case with primiparous mothers (1.19; 95% CI 0.89–1.59). The statistically significant synergistic effect between parity and paternal investment was found (Synergy Factor = 2.12; 95% CI 1.47–3.05, p<0.001). These findings suggest that in situations of low paternal investment, multiparous mothers face trade-offs between investing in existing versus unborn children, therefore investment in the latter is lower. Such a strategy may benefit maternal fitness due to investment in older children, who have higher reproductive value.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal investment and low birth weight – The mediating role of parity

2019

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“…The existing literature confirms that the voluntary establishment of legal paternity by a father can be a proxy for both paternity confidence (a man’s assessment of the likelihood that he is the father of a putative child) and male commitment to investing in offspring, all of which reduces the anxiety of pregnant women [19,22]. To establish legal paternity for unmarried women, in Poland, as in many other countries, a man can voluntarily sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity form, and in such case his name will appear on the birth certificate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been shown that the internalization of Catholic values is so strong that even those who do not declare themselves to be religious, and who are not members of the Catholic Church, seem to be affected by it [71,72]. In addition, cohabitating women may not only suffer social disapproval, but may experience law-related disadvantages due to their status [19]. In more conservative countries, cohabiting couples experience different judicial outcomes in relation to social security and tax, inheritance, and welfare benefit rights [73], as compared with married couples.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This could imply that pregnancy-specific psychological stress is an independent predictor of adverse pregnancy outcomes [17,18]. Therefore, among unmarried women, the father’s acknowledgment of paternity will also play a significant stress-reducing role [19]. In particular, an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy, especially outside of marriage, is one of the most stressful long-term experiences a woman may have in her life [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Effect of Prenatal Stress, Proxied by Marital and Paternity Status, on the Risk of Preterm Birth

Merklinger-Gruchała

Kapiszewska

2019

IJERPH

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Uncertainty and insecurity in the relationship between the mother and father of a child are responsible for heightened maternal stress, which can lead to preterm birth (PTB). Different intensities of prenatal stress (proxied by four levels of marital status linked with the presence or absence of paternal data on birth records) were defined as the Marital-Father Data index. We assessed the impact of those varying intensities of prenatal stress on PTB with respect to parity among a group of Polish mothers residing in Krakow (N = 87,916). We found a pattern across the adjusted risk ratios (RR) of preterm birth that ordered these estimates in an increasing trend towards higher risk, beginning with the group of married mothers with father data present (baseline), through the groups of legitimizing marriages—married after conception with father data present (RR = 1.1; 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) 1.0–1.2) and unmarried mothers with father data present (RR = 1.3; 95% CI 1.2–1.5) to the group of unmarried mothers with father data absent (RR = 1.9; 95% CI 1.7–2.2). The adjusted p for the linear trend between Marital-Father Data index and PTB was less than 0.001. The adjusted effect of perceived prenatal stress differed with respect to parity (confirmed by statistically significant interactions between Marital-Father Data index levels and parity), with a higher magnitude of this effect noted among multiparous versus primiparous women. Low paternal involvement and support during pregnancy may negatively affect PTB risk and this effect may differ in relation to parity status. More attention should be paid to maternal pregnancy stress, especially of multiparous mothers, to decrease the risk of unfavorable birth outcomes.

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“…Stress may be particularly devastating when the father does not acknowledge paternity, indicated by the lack of the father’s name on the birth certificate [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. As authors suggest, the relationship between the mother and father in these circumstances is of short duration and characterized by low paternal confidence [ 10 ], or the mother does not know who the father of her child is or does not want to identify him for many different reasons. The risks of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth are higher among unmarried mothers without paternal involvement compared to married couples, as has been previously reported [ 2 , 11 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marital Status, Father Acknowledgement, and Birth Outcomes: Does the Maternal Education Matter?

Merklinger-Gruchała

Kapiszewska

2023

IJERPH

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We evaluated whether the maternal marital status and father acknowledgement (proxy for paternal presence) affect birth weight, and if so, whether the maternal educational attainment modifies this effect. The growing tendency of alternative forms of family structure affects maternal well-being and pregnancy outcome. However, it is not known whether poorer birth outcomes of out-of-wedlock childbearing can be overcome or compensated by maternal education. Using birth registry data, we assessed the impact of maternal civil status and child recognition by the father on birth-weight-for-gestational age (BWGA) z-scores, with respect to maternal education, among Polish mothers (N = 53,528). After standardization, the effect of being unmarried with father acknowledgement (UM-F) vs. married with father acknowledgement (M-F) reduced the BWGA z-score of 0.05 (p < 0.001), irrespective of educational attainment (p for interaction = 0.79). However, education differentiated the effect of father acknowledgement across unmarried mothers. BWGA z-scores were significantly lower among the low-educated unmarried group without father acknowledgment (UM-NF) as compared to UM-F (equaled −0.11, p = 0.01). The same effect among the higher-educated group was non-significant (p = 0.72). Higher maternal education can compensate for the negative effect of a lack of father acknowledgement, but it does not help to overcome the effect of out-of-wedlock stress exposure.

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Establishment of Legal Paternity for Children of Unmarried American Women

Cited by 7 publications

References 76 publications

Paternal investment and low birth weight – The mediating role of parity

Paternal investment and low birth weight – The mediating role of parity

The Effect of Prenatal Stress, Proxied by Marital and Paternity Status, on the Risk of Preterm Birth

Marital Status, Father Acknowledgement, and Birth Outcomes: Does the Maternal Education Matter?

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