Postgraduate students´ attitudes towards parenthood and their awareness concerning fertility; Are there any differences between females and males?
TA Tydén1, C Lampic1, P-O Karlstrom2, A Skoog Svanberg2
1Uppsala University, Dept. of Publich Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden, and 2Uppsala University, Dep. of Women´s and Children´s Health, Uppsala, Sweden
Postponing childbirth is becoming increasingly common in western countries, especially in groups with higher education.
Objectives To investigate attitudes towards parenthood and awareness concerning fertility issues among female and male doctoral students.
Methods A postal questionnaire was sent to randomly selected doctoral students at Uppsala university (200 females and 200 males) aged 40 years and below.
Results 141 women (71% response) and 116 men (59% response) participated, and their mean age was 30 years (range 23-40). One out of four had children. Both women and men had positive attitudes towards parenthood and wanted to have 2 to3 children, the first child at approximately age 31-32. Women, more than men, had doubts about having the desired number of children (p<0.01). Women were more pessimistic than men regarding the effects of parenthood on their post graduate studies (p<0.01), their status on the labor market (p<0.01), and problems related to balancing work and children (p<0.05). Having access to childcare and having children before they were too old was more important for women then men. More women than men (69% and 56% respectively, p<0.01) overestimated the possibility of achieving a pregnancy when having unprotected intercourse at the time of ovulation. Half of participants overestimated the average "baby take home rate" of IVF-treatment.
Conclusions There were similarities but also some differences between the genders. Despite similar employment conditions, more women than men perceived that having children during the time period of their doctoral studies was or would be difficult. The women also expressed more concerns related to combing parenthood and work. Most women and men wanted to have children, but they tended to overestimate the chances to achieve a pregnancy. As many female doctoral students intended to have children during age periods when female fecundity is decreased, they would benefit from information on fertility issues in order to make informed decisions regarding family planning.