Reproductive Decision Making in Spain: Heterosexual Couples’ Narratives About How They Chose to Have Children

Alvarez, Bruna

doi:10.1177/0192513x18783494

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Doubters were also most worried that parenthood would imply loss of autonomy and freedom. These results can be related to findings from a Spanish study, where couples who discussed 'whether' to have children saw parenthood as a free, individual choice, while couples who talked about 'when' saw parenthood as a normal step in life (Alvarez, 2018). The present results indicate that if one sees procreation as a natural and biological impetus, one might not be that likely to consider the negative aspects of bringing new life to earth, but rather worry about not having found the right partner or consider practical issues (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…Men who did not want children, on the other hand, mostly worried about the future of the world, practicalities and their skills as parents. Most reasons given against having children have been described before (Agrillo and Nelini, 2008;Alvarez, 2018;Henwood et al, 2011;Park, 2005). As for worry about the future, Overall and Caplan welcome this ethical discussion, claiming that the so-called urge or natural drive to procreate is not, in itself, a justification for action (Overall and Caplan, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children

Bodin¹,

Plantin²,

Elmerstig³

2019

Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online

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Research on reproductive decision-making mainly focuses on women's experiences and desire for children. Men included in this type of research usually represent one-half of a heterosexual couple and/or men who are involuntarily childless. Perspectives from a broader group of men are lacking. This study is based on the results of a baseline questionnaire answered by 191 men aged 20-50 years who attended two sexual health clinics in two major Swedish cities. The questionnaire included questions about sociodemographic background, reproductive history and fertility, but also two open-ended questions focusing on reasons for having or not having children. The results of these two questions were analysed by manifest content analysis and resulted in five categories: '(non-)ideal images', 'to pass something on', 'personal development and self-image', 'the relationship with the (potential) co-parent' and 'practical circumstances and prerequisites'. Reasons for having children were mainly based on ideal images of children, family and parenthood. Meanwhile, reasons for not having children usually concerned practical issues. The type of answer given was related to men's procreative intentions but not to background characteristics. In conclusion, men raised many different aspects for and against having children. Therefore, reproductive decision-making should not be considered a non-choice among men.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children

Bodin¹,

Plantin²,

Elmerstig³

2019

Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online

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“…Alvarez (2018) categorizes fertility decision-making into “whether” and “when” questions. Her research suggests that the decision to have the first baby requires contemplation and negotiation between partners.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although it is important to explore fertility intentions, reproductive choices may be a more effective predictor of how effectively the universal two-child policy has been received. However, women’s reproductive choices are rarely explored in research, either in English or in Chinese, with only a few exceptions (Alvarez, 2018; Mao & Luo, 2013). This paper intends to remedy this situation by focusing on the reproductive choices of highly educated employed women in Shanghai.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive Choices of Highly Educated Employed Women with two Children Under the Universal Two-child Policy

Shen

Jiang

2019

Journal of Family Issues

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This study focuses on urban women who were born in the 1970s and 1980s, and who gave birth during the transformation of China’s family planning policy. We conducted 22 interviews with highly educated women who had given birth to two children each, and who were employed full time. We examined why the respondents had decided to have a second child and how their reproductive choices responded to the policy changes. We found that their reproductive choices were a result of the intersection between state policy interventions and individual choices, and were markers of class distinction. Their reproductive choices were inseparable from their high academic achievements, which was affected by the one-child policy (OCP). Our research enriches understanding of women’s reproductive choices by examining the effects of government-imposed policies on individual choices.

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“…This study also builds on previous research on reproductive decision-making, which in the context of the USA showed how contingent reproduction was, particularly for gay men, most of whom were found to be ‘situational parents’ (Stacey, 2006). Reproductive contingency was also found to be the case for heterosexual men in the USA, UK, Australia and South Africa (Bartholomaeus and Riggs, 2017, Blell, 2018, Marsiglio, 1991, Morison, 2013), as well as for heterosexual couples in Spain (Alvarez, 2018) – only half of the latter wondered when to have children, whilst the other half wondered whether to actually have children at all. This reproductive contingency could be attributed to different factors that may deter individuals from parenthood: postmodern values of self-fulfilment (Giddens, 1992); pressures on ‘intensive parenting’ (Faircloth and Gurtin, 2017); poor child-care services in the neoliberal context (Briggs, 2017), to which in case of gay men are added increased practical, symbolic and other difficulties to actually achieve parenthood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Procreative consciousness in a global market: gay men's paths to surrogacy in the USA

Smietana¹

2018

Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online

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This article explores one of the contemporary contexts of reproductive decision-making: gay men's paths to surrogacy within the globalised USA fertility industry. The stories collected from qualitative interviews and ethnographic research with 37 gay men from several countries in Europe and the USA, who all had children through surrogacy in the USA, show that the men's understandings of their own reproductive aspirations and opportunities changed over time, as if recovering the fertility that was lost by coming out. This shift in the men's procreative consciousnessi.e. in their awareness of being subjects that could reproduce (or not)disrupts the heteronormative idea that to be queer is not to contribute to the reproduction of the species, the family and the nation. Alongside this consciousness shift, however, reproductive decision-making of the gay men in this study was contingent on multiple factors: access to the fertility industry; economics, given how expensive and thus stratified surrogacy is; social support in the men's communities and extended families; their emotions and values. Therefore these gay men's reproductive decision-making could be characterized in terms of reproductive contingency and consciousness change, within which the globalised fertility industry was one relevant element among the choreography of multiple factors. These findings evidence that despite naturalization of reproduction as an obvious or 'natural' event in life, it is contingent, anything but obvious, and its perceptions are changeable. Reproduction is achieved not merely as a result of rational decision-making but rather in the interplay with an array of factors.

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Reproductive Decision Making in Spain: Heterosexual Couples’ Narratives About How They Chose to Have Children

Cited by 20 publications

References 59 publications

A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children

A wonderful experience or a frightening commitment? An exploration of men's reasons to (not) have children

Reproductive Choices of Highly Educated Employed Women with two Children Under the Universal Two-child Policy

Procreative consciousness in a global market: gay men's paths to surrogacy in the USA

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