The reported overall subfertility rate in Kenia is 26.1% with 50% attributed to tubal factors and 15% due to male factors. This is probably an underestimation taking into consideration that due to the stigma and myths of the disease, many couples are seeking alternative care from religious sects, witchdoctors, herbalists. Because the costs associated with IVF in private centres are only afforda...

Background: Global and Iranian statistics indicate a rise in the newly emerging phenomenon of voluntary childlessness as a permanent status among couples. Childlessness is one of the main challenges of modern society. In Iran, studies on the process of voluntary permanent childlessness are scarce. The present study aimed to investigate the causes and underlying factors of voluntary childlessnes...

Demographers and sociologists have studied why women remain childless for more than two decades; however, this specific choice of zero fertility has not interested economists. Permanent childlessness, in developed countries, can concern up to 30 % of the women in a cohort. Childlessness rates can be positively related to average fertility for some cohorts of women. This paper provides an explan...

The author explores the phenomenon of voluntary childlessness in Poland. She presents results her own research as part a broader analysis issue intentional childlessness. focus article is on reasons why men do not take parental role. first covers socio-cultural context into childlessness, while second discusses qualitative conducted using, among other things, group and in-depth interviews with ...

According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) infertility and childlessness are the most important reason for divorce in Ghana. The traditional Ghanaian society is pro-natal and voluntary childlessness is very uncommon. Patient groups are almost non-existent in Sub-Saharan Africa, aggravating the situation of childless couples. Due to the lack of enough and affordable high quality infertilit...

Within a relatively short period of 30 years, public acceptance of voluntary childlessness has increased enormously in the Netherlands. In this paper, we address two research questions, which we answer with data from 13 waves of the repeated cross-sectional survey Cultural Change in the Netherlands (CCN, 1965-1996). First, we investigate to what extent the increasing permissiveness is due to co...

Eleven general practitioners examined the medical records of all women on their lists born in 1950 (617 patients) and 1935 (533 patients) to determine the prevalence of childlessness and specialist consultations about infertility. Eighty eight (14.3%) of the women born in 1950 and 41 (7.7%) of those born in 1935 were childless. Sixty eight women born in 1950 (11.0%) and 17 born in 1935 (3.2%) w...

We examined double standards in norms concerning voluntary childlessness. Whether the choice to remain childless is more accepted for men or women is not a priori clear; we formulated hypotheses in both directions. Parenthood might be considered as more central to women’s identity than to men’s, resulting in higher disapproval of childlessness for women. Yet, as the costs of parenthood are high...