A qualitative phenomenological research design was used to investigate the
experience of parenthood decision-making for couples who were initially uncertain about
starting a family. The purpose of the study was to explicate couples' experiences of
deciding if, and when, to have children, including how they determine the viability and
timing of parenting in their lives and relationships. Eight couples who had recently made
the decision to try to have a child volunteered to describe their experiences and
understanding of parenthood decision-making in joint, in-depth, audio-taped interviews.
A thematic analysis of the essential meaning structures of participants'
parenthood decision-making experiences revealed six common themes: A Sense of the
Costs of Parenthood; A Sense of Fear; Changing Perceptions from the Costs to the
Gains of Parenthood; An Emerging Sense of Readiness for Parenthood; A Sense of
Excitement and Curiosity; and A Sense of Faith in the Relationship. These themes were
confirmed and refined through validation interviews with participants. These findings are
discussed as they relate to and extend upon models of decision-making, in general, and of
parenthood decision-making, in particular. It is argued that the results support a
conceptualization of parenthood decision-making as a complex and value-laden
phenomenon that is comprised of both individual and interpersonal components.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/13821 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Towill, Kristina |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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