In Australia, as in other industrialised countries, rates of childlessness amongst women are rising. This has been attributed, in part, to a rise in the number of women choosing never to give birth; however, women’s perception of what constitutes choice in remaining childless is under-investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate Australian women’s experience of childlessness at mid age and explore the role of choice in this reproductive outcome. It investigated the determinants of childlessness, considered the consequences of never giving birth, and explored how choice affects childless women’s evaluation of non-motherhood. / A cross-sectional study of the experience of never giving birth was conducted, which comprised two components. The minor component was a secondary analysis of survey data (collected in 1996) from the Women’s Health Australia (WHA) project. WHA is a longitudinal study which recruited a nationally representative sample of 14,099 women born between 1945 and 1952. These women are amongst the first to have lived all their reproductive lives since the introduction of the oral contraceptive. This study compared demographic characteristics, self-rated health, and life satisfaction between 1,069 mid-aged childless women (exclusive of known adoptive and step-mothers) and 12,643 of their peers who are mothers. It was found that at mid-age, childless women have higher levels of education and are more extensively engaged in the paid workforce than mothers, however, there were no differences in health status between mothers and childless women. Life satisfaction differences between the two groups are complex and mediated by marital status. / The major component of the investigation was a study-specific survey (October 2002) completed by 426 nulliparous women who were all participants in the mid-aged cohort of Women’s Health Australia. This component investigated the determinants of childlessness, the role of choice, and the experience of non-motherhood. / In contrast to existing studies into childlessness, this large quantitative investigation has a sample which comprises a broad selection of nulliparous women irrespective of their marital status, medical history, or level of choice in never giving birth. Using an original classification system, women were categorised into three childless groups which describe three levels of choice in never giving birth: 37.1% of respondents chose childlessness actively (Active Choice), 15.4% chose childlessness given their personal circumstances (Constrained Choice), and 47.5% felt denied the opportunity to give birth (Denied Choice). The predominant reason for childlessness amongst the Active Choice women was not experiencing a strong ‘maternal instinct’, the Denied Choice group mainly cited infertility or the lack of a husband/partner, whilst the Constrained Choice group gave a mixture of voluntary and involuntary explanations. / This study developed a balance sheet approach to assessing both the positive and negative aspects of non-motherhood – the Consequence of Childlessness Balance Sheet (CCBS). It also introduced a technique for measuring ambivalence that was developed within social psychology. In contrast to the public discourse that depicts childlessness as a negative life outcome, participants in this study gave a favourable evaluation of their lives. Even so, more than half (55.6%) of the participants experienced moderate levels of ambivalence. Comparisons between the three childless groups revealed that as choice increased participants were more likely to give a higher rating to the positive aspects of their lives, a lower rating to the negative ones, and experience lower levels of ambivalence. However, Denied Choice women generally did not find childlessness a devastating experience. / Therefore, amongst the mid-aged participants in this study the experience of childlessness was complex and diverse, varying with the level of choice women had in never giving birth. Childlessness was not, however, a burdensome or detrimental life outcome for these women.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/269977 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | McKay, Heather Jean |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Terms and Conditions: Copyright in works deposited in the University of Melbourne Eprints Repository (UMER) is retained by the copyright owner. The work may not be altered without permission from the copyright owner. Readers may only, download, print, and save electronic copies of whole works for their own personal non-commercial use. Any use that exceeds these limits requires permission from the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from these works., Open Access |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds