Assisted reproduction may change birth intentions.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the development and expansion of assisted reproductive technology (ART) between 1982 and 1995 raised the birth intentions of subfecund people relative to fecund people.


METHODS
Comparison of birth intention rates among fecund and subfecund women in the 1982, 1988, and 1995 rounds of the National Survey of Family Growth, standardized by age, parity, and education.


METHODS
No clinical setting.


METHODS
Nationally representative samples of married women who were 20 to 44 years old.


METHODS
None.


RESULTS
Between 1982 and 1995, birth intentions rose at least 2.5 times faster among subfecund women than among fecund women. This rise was not due to increasing average age at maternity over the period.


CONCLUSIONS
The development of ART and expansion of services may well have increased birth intentions among subfecund women between 1982 and 1995.
Miller
Kate
K
Populations Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. kmiller@ibisreproductivehealth.org
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000523:psychology*; D033182:Intention; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012098:Reproduction; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; D014481:United States