Family dynamics and fertility: the role of men

Though all contraceptive methods are promoted through 'Cafeteria Approach' female sterilization continues to be the most preferred method. Despite widespread availability and ubiquitous, knowledge, other contraceptive methods are often not used regularly or effectively. Therefore, the factors determine fertility choices and adoption of contraceptive need to be studied to develop appropriate strategies for fertility decline. This paper analyses the role of men as impediments or facilitators of fertility control. Qualitative data collected in two villages in South Udaipur in 2006 and 2008 demonstrate that men’s attitudes to use of modern contraception are highly dependent on having at least one boy child and achieving ideal family size. Discussions during interviews show that young couple are living in environment in which they are in familial pressure of proving their fertility. Pregnancy follows soon after marriage and occurs mostly during adolescence. Sex of the first child decides about planning their future fertility. Couples needs to be empowered with knowledge about negative consequences of early pregnancy and motivate to cope up with the familial and societal pressure for early pregnancy by taking fertility related decisions to plan their actual fertility.

Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world that recently exceed 7 billion
populace, with stagnated contraceptive prevalence rate in the country. It is important to promote inter-spousal communication in marital relationships to improve contraceptive usage, as it is only permissible way in Pakistan for reproduction and sex. This study aims to highlight these communication practices & their linkage with contraceptive usage.

A cross sectional survey was conducted from 710 married females males who were aged between 16–44 years in Hyderabad District of Pakistan.

Twenty-eight percent respondents had ever used contraceptives and 61% of these were female. A highly significant association was found between contraceptive usage and the ability of females to refuse sexual intercourse with their spouse (p<0.001). Of the 122 female contraceptive users, 84% females felt comfortable in asking their husbands to wear condom. There was no significant association found between contraceptive male users and those who had ability to express their sexual desire & refuse their spouse for sexual intercourse.

The study emphasize the need for strengthening communication & negotiation skills of females so that they are able to exercise their sexual rights and refuse sexual intercourse and/or ask their spouse to use a condom.

This paper investigates the determinants of childlessness among men and women from Bulgaria, Romania and Russia, using data on a sub-sample of 30-49 years old respondents from the Generations and Gender Survey (2004-2005). We used two models using weighted logistic regressions to contrast childless (involuntary or voluntary) men and women with fathers and mothers. The first model includes covariates related to background and work related characteristics, early life course variables, attitudes and values. The second model adds a set of three variables about family formation. Relevant results from the extended model indicate that childlessness is linked with higher levels of education among Bulgarian and Romanian adults regardless gender, and with better job positions for Romanian men and women. Mother’s higher education among Bulgarian men and absence of siblings among Romanian female increase childlessness. It seems that having siblings discourage childlessness, regardless gender and country. Non-traditional attitudes, particularly disagreeing with the key role of children in women’s life fulfillment, favors childlessness. As expected, celibacy and couple’s breakdown play the most important role in childlessness, while cohabitation reduces the probability of being childless, regardless gender and country.

Using qualitative data based on 154 participants from 18 focus group discussion and 16 key informant and in-depth interviews, information on men’s involvement in family planning and contraceptive use was collected. The study objective was to examine in-depth explanations for men’s non-involvement in family planning services and promotion of contraceptive use. Of interest men aged 15 to 54 and women in the reproductive age group participated in the group discussions. Selection was based on age, gender, residence of the participants. While the criteria for inclusion for the indepth interviews was based on those who had reported the highest number of children born or fathered. Data collection was done until we reached saturation. Manifest content analysis was used to identify key thematic areas for data analysis. Results show men’s lack of interest in contraceptive use. Limited method choices for men, affected by side effects, domestic violence in families where women used contraceptives stealthily and marital breakdown. In conclusion, there is an urgent need for introduction of other male contraceptives and an integrated family planning approach for both men and women at all levels. Men ought to be brought on board as without them contraceptive uptake will remain continuously low in patriarchal societies.

While playing a key role in all stages of reproduction Palestinian men remain absent from research on reproductive health. The present research thus proposes to analyze the involvement of these men in contraceptive choices and practices within the couple.We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the Palestinian Health Survey (2006) focused on family planning and fertility desire. Only women were interviewed in this survey but they were asked about the opinions and attitudes of their husbands (N=5,291 married women). In addition, 47 semi-structured interviews were conducted with married Palestinians (men and women) on their desire fertility and contraceptive itineraries.Women whose husband wants more children than they do have a higher probability of using contraception than those whose husband wants the same number of children:OR=1.58[1.25-2,01]. Second, reproductive behaviours involving men, such as deciding overall contraceptive use or a method involving men, are related to the socio-economic characteristics of the spouses and various indicators of marital closeness: monogamy, communication within the couple and consistency of fertility preferences. This research highlights the importance of conjugal interactions and the emergence of a space for domestic decision-making around procreative choices and practices.

Objectives. To understand the mutual influence men and women have on fertility and contraceptive use decision-making. With the shifting paradigms in reproductive health, understanding male influence on female reproductive behavior is a high priority. Malawian and Nigerian women continue to have more children than they desire. Unmet need for contraceptives remains high (26% in Malawi, 20% in Nigeria), although, the two countries reflect very different contraceptive use patterns.
Methods. Data was collected using qualitative methods. A total of 47 focus group discussions and 32 in-depth interviews, were conducted across the countries. Thematic analysis was utilized to identify patterns.
Results. Women and men influence each other’s fertility preferences and contraceptive decision-making in complex ways. While men might feel dominant in marital relationships, they too feel constrained in their normative environment. Women are far from silent bystanders; they strategize to accomplish their fertility goals.
Conclusion. Women and men influence each other’s fertility and contraceptive behaviors in complex ways. Contextual realities have an important influence in determining patterns of dependence and influence between spouses. Knowledge of relationship dynamics and context can be useful to achieve couple fertility desires.

The myth that young South African fathers play little role in raising their children is quickly being dispelled. Using rich longitudinal data on children (n=1,209) from the Cape Town area, we show that while only 26% of young fathers live with their children, over 60% of non-residential fathers maintain regular contact and provide financial support. Fathers’ engagement, however, is mediated by their relationship with the child’s mother (conjugal ties) and the child’s grandparents (consanguineous bonds). Men’s relationship with the child’s mother at the time of pregnancy largely determines co-residence, but has little impact on his contact with non-residential children. Strong bonds between mothers and maternal grandmothers diminish rates of fathers’ co-residence, while close ties between fathers and paternal grandmothers increases contact with non-residential children. Lastly, neither conjugal nor consanguineous bonds affect financial contributions, which are primarily dependent on men’s current economic situation. These findings illustrate the importance of conjugal and consanguineous ties and also challenge stereotypes about fathers’ relationships with non-residential children.

Becoming a father is a major event, marking a great turn around in the life of a man by shifting his social identity from being fatherless to becoming a father. Conventionally, the new role often requires a man to adjust his everyday life activity to include a new job—parenting—a gendered project and a form of family practice (Coltrane & Adams, 2008). As a chapter of a PhD thesis, this paper examines the meanings of being a father and men’s parenting experiences, which reflected their ideas of fatherhood and masculinity among young, adult, married Vietnamese men. Using a qualitative methodology, 20 men aged from 26 to 38 were purposively recruited in 2009 for semi-structured interviews. Interview data were then thematically analysed in relation to the mentioned theme.

In the context of very low to extremely low fertility levels recorded in many developed countries during the past two decades, an ongoing debate about the causes of this trend has been conducted amongst scholars and policy makers. When analyzing the results of various studies of data at either the aggregate or individual level, one important issue is worth noticing: a large number of existing analyses on the reproductive process are based largely, if not entirely, on female fertility data, whilst men are more or less absent from data gathering and analysis.
The aim is to build on the survey's theoretical papers and present the first empirical results on male fertility in the Czech Republic. For this purpose, we focus on indicators of male fertility, the preferences regarding family size and the ideal number of children from the personal and general view point. All is done by comparing male and female responses. Based on the findings on female fertility we will answer to following questions: (1) What is the level of male fertility in the Czech Republic? (2) What are the age-specific fertility rates for Czech men? (3) What are the preferences of male population with regard to family size? (4) At what age do men enter parenthood? (5) What are the main factors influencing male fertility levels?

Over the years, the issue of maternal health was predominantly seen and treated as a purely feminine matter. The involvement of men in ensuring and enhancing maternal health has significant positive impact on maternal and child. National Family Health survey has provided an opportunity to investigate the factors influencing men involvement in maternal and child health care in India. The result suggests that education, occupation and exposure to mass media are important factors that influence men participation in maternal and child health care, however women education has significant influence than the men education and men exposure to mass media has more impact on male involvement. Standard of living, number of living children and age difference between couple are the most influential factors in deciding men participation maternal health care. So it is suggested that there should be some more efforts to reach the men through mass media, and efforts to educate the women more and more.