ArticleWomen's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
Are Uncertain Fertility Intentions a Temporary or Long-term Outlook? Findings from a Panel Study.
Article in Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Big Five Personality Traits and Trajectories of Fertility Expectations Across the Reproductive Age Period.Journal of personality · 2026Article
- Self-assessed Physical and Mental Health and Fertility Expectations of Men and Women Across the Life Course.Demography · 2025Article
- Income loss and fertility intentions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.Revista brasileira de estudos de populacao · 2025Article
- Perceptions of the Future and Pregnancy Avoidance in the U.S.Population research and policy review · 2025Article
- Perception and Childbirth Decision-Making in Unintended Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
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- Adjusting the analytical aperture: propositions for an integrated approach to the social study of reproductive technologies.BioSocieties · 2022Article
- Current fertility desire and its associated factors among currently married eligible couples in urban and rural area of Puducherry, south India.African health sciences · 2021Article
- Didn't Plan One but got One:European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2021Article
- How do fertility intentions lead to contraceptive continuation among a cohort of family planning users who received services from the private sector in Nigeria.Gates open research · 2021Article
- Pathways to Parenthood in Social and Family Context: Decade in Review, 2020.Journal of marriage and the family · 2020Article
- Article
- Is pregnancy fatalism normal? An attitudinal assessment among women trying to get pregnant and those not using contraception.Contraception · 2018Article
- Change and consistency in US women's pregnancy attitudes and associations with contraceptive use.Contraception · 2017Article
- Associations between Pregnancy Intention, Attitudes, and Contraceptive Use among Women Veterans in the ECUUN Study.Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's HealthArticle
- Effect of Changes in Response Options on Reported Pregnancy Intentions: A Natural Experiment in the United States.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesResearch suggests that a substantial minority of women are unsure if they want to have (more) children. This study examines whether this is a temporary or long-term outlook and which characteristics are associated with uncertainty about future childbearing intentions.
methodsPanel data from a national sample of 2,353 nonsterilized U.S. women aged 18 to 39 years were gathered at three points in time between 2012 and 2013. Women who indicated they were "not sure" if they wanted to have any (more) children were classified as uncertain. Random effects and fixed effects logistic regression were used to determine which baseline and time-varying characteristics were associated with fertility uncertainty and changes in uncertainty.
resultsAlthough 39% of the sample reported uncertain fertility intentions on at least one survey, only 9% were uncertain at all three. Characteristics associated with uncertainty included being ages 30 and older, having one or more children, perceiving one's partner to have uncertain childbearing intentions, and having a strong desire to avoid pregnancy. Characteristics associated with a decreased likelihood of uncertainty included relationship happiness and having a recent discussion about childbearing intentions with a health care provider.
conclusionsAt a given point in time, a substantial minority of women is uncertain whether they want to have more children, but it seems to be a temporary or transitional stage for most.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.