Motives for parenthood among couples attending a level 3 infertility clinic in the public health sector in South Africa.
BACKGROUND
Most African countries are pronatalistic with high total fertility rates and a low prevalence of voluntary childlessness. At present, limited data exist relating to the reasons why men and women desire children. This study explores parenthood motives among infertile couples from an urban community in South Africa.


METHODS
The parenthood-motivation list, an instrument developed in the Netherlands for the assessment of parenthood motives and strength of desire for a child, was administrated to 50 couples (100 participants) who presented to an infertility clinic in a tertiary referral centre. The instrument discerns six parenthood motives comprising happiness, well-being, identity, parenthood, continuity and social control.


RESULTS
The majority of participants endorsed most of the motives. The categories happiness and parenthood were the most frequent motives. Women endorsed more motives simultaneously when compared with men. The categories happiness, well-being and social control correlated positively with strength of desire for a child. Most men and women expressed a strong desire for a child.


CONCLUSIONS
Men and women desired children for many reasons and with similar intensity. This diversity and intensity of parenthood motives appears to be a reflection of the value of children in our communities and further our understanding of the implications of involuntary childlessness.
Reproductive Medicine Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Groote Schuur Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Observatory 7925, South Africa. silke.dyer@uct.ac.za
Silke
S
Dyer
Ntebaleng
N
Mokoena
Johannes
J
Maritz
Zephne
Z
van der Spuy
D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011634:Public Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D012933:Social Identification; D013019:South Africa