title: Pregnancy intentions among women who do not try: focusing on women who are okay either way.
abstract: Are women who are intentional about pregnancy (trying to or trying not to get pregnant) systematically different from women who are "okay either way" about getting pregnant? We use a currently sexually active subsample (n = 3,771) of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a random digit dialing telephone survey of reproductive-aged women (ages 25-45) in the United States. We compare women who are trying to, trying not to, or okay either way about getting pregnant on attitudes, social pressures, life course and status characteristics using bivariate analyses (chi-square tests for categorical and ANOVA tests for continuous variables). Multivariate multinomial logistic regression provides adjusted associations. Most women say that they are trying not to get pregnant (71%) or are okay either way (23%); few are trying to get pregnant. Among women with no prior pregnancies (n = 831), more say that they are trying to get pregnant (14%) but a similar percentage are okay either way (26%). Several characteristics distinguish those trying to from those okay: fertility intentions, importance of motherhood, age, parity, race/ethnicity and self identifying a fertility problem. Additional characteristics are associated with trying not to get pregnant compared to being okay: ideal number of children, wanting a baby, trusting conception, relationship satisfaction, race ethnicity, economic hardship, and attitudes about career success. Women who are "okay either way" about pregnancy should be assessed separately from women who are intentional (trying to, trying not to) about pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0324, USA. jmcquillan2@unl.edu
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McQuillan
authors.forename: Arthur L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Greil
authors.forename: Karina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shreffler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility / Q000502:physiology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000523:psychology*; D012931:Social Environment; D012945:Social Values; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States
references.citation: Matern Child Health J. 2000 Sep;4(3):191-6
references.pmid: 11097507
references.citation: Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2003 Mar-Apr;35(2):94-101
references.pmid: 12729139
references.citation: Fam Plann Perspect. 1999 Sep-Oct;31(5):250-1
references.pmid: 10723653
references.citation: Matern Child Health J. 2007 Jan;11(1):81-9
references.pmid: 17080316
references.citation: Soc Forces. 2008;86(3):1163-1188
references.pmid: 19672317
references.citation: Fam Plann Perspect. 1999 Sep-Oct;31(5):251-2
references.pmid: 10723654
references.citation: Med Anthropol Q. 2010 Jun;24(2):137-56
references.pmid: 20550090
references.citation: Matern Child Health J. 2000 Sep;4(3):183-9
references.pmid: 11097506
references.citation: Stud Fam Plann. 2009 Jun;40(2):87-100
references.pmid: 19662801
references.citation: Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2006 Jun;38(2):90-6
references.pmid: 16772190
references.citation: Contraception. 2008 Jan;77(1):10-21
references.pmid: 18082661
references.citation: Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2004 Sep-Oct;36(5):198-205
references.pmid: 15519962
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2002 Aug;55(4):545-57
references.pmid: 12188462
references.citation: Fam Plann Perspect. 2000 Jan-Feb;32(1):39-45
references.pmid: 10710705
references.citation: Fam Plann Perspect. 1999 Sep-Oct;31(5):220-7
references.pmid: 10723646
references.citation: Fam Plann Perspect. 1999 Sep-Oct;31(5):248-9
references.pmid: 10723651
references.citation: Demography. 2002 Feb;39(1):181-97
references.pmid: 11852836
references.citation: Popul Dev Rev. 2005 Sep 1;31(3):507-527
references.pmid: 20376334
references.citation: Demography. 1982 Aug;19(3):315-34
references.pmid: 7117630
references.citation: Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2004 Sep-Oct;36(5):192-7
references.pmid: 15519961