Mining the Gap: A Literature Review of the Male Experience of Involuntary Childlessness

Transcription

1 Mining the Gap: A Literature Review of the Male Experience of Involuntary Childlessness Robin Hadley PhD Candidate, Keele University r.a.hadley@ilcs.keele.ac.uk

2 My background.

3 Sources of Literature Hard copy & Virtual. Organisations: professional and interest groups. Networking. Two categories: Demography and Infertility.

4 World view World Fertility Report (UN, 2003): Decline in the fertility levels of developing countries between Increased debate regarding falling fertility rate and ageing population (Agree & Glaser, 2009)

5 Life course perspective In the UK population set to increase to 71.6 million in 2033 (Pickard et al, 2009). By 2033 average age will be 42.2 from 39.9 Oldest ages (85+) increasing fastest (ONS, 2009). An increasing trend in older people in solo households living - especially men (Jamieson, 2009)

6 Demography Dykstra, P. A. (2009). Childless Old Age. International Handbook of Population Ageing (Vol. 1, pp ). Childlessness: a new phenomenon? What influences fertility trends? Lifestyle attitudes: Timing of decision to have children. Male attitudes to women, socio-economic, and health.

7 Routes to childlessness Timing of transitional events influenced childlessness (Hagestad and Call, 2007): Leaving home, educational level, marrying later, early divorce, employment type.

8 Later life health and childlessness Affects on lifestyle in later life include (Kendig et al 2007): Poor health behaviour in the elderly childless male and female. A group at risk of social isolation, loneliness, depression, ill health, and increased mortality (Dykstra & Hagestad, 2007: 1288)

9 Involuntary childlessness No difference in level of desire for parenthood between childless males and females (Hadley, 2009). Approximately 1 in 6 couples seek medical help regarding conceiving (HEFA, 2009). Diagnosis of infertility has serious affects on identity and wellbeing (Bartlam, 2004). Difficult to estimate the level of involuntary childlessness (Monach, 1993).

10 Involuntary childlessness and men. Most infertility studies have concentrated on women (Throsby & Gill, 2004). Most research on childless men based on in infertility treatment and father s to be. Male infertility negatively affected mental and physical health and social profile.

11 Health and childless men. Divorced childless men suffered poorer health. excessive drinking, smoking, depression and sleeping difficulties (Kendig et al 2007). Lone childless men and fathers have increased risk of death through suicide, addiction, injury, external violence, poisoning, lung and heart disease. Linked to emotional instability and willingness to take risks (Weitoft et al, 2004).

12 Material on involuntary childless men 1 Koropeckyj-Cox, T. (2003). Secondary analysis of 3 survey interviews ( ) with men aged 67, 68, 80+. Findings: focus was on provider, economic safety, independence and professional status. Unlike women IVC not viewed as reflection on identity or social position.

13 Material on involuntary childless men 2 Dalzell two studies (2005, 2007) first study with 4 men (aged 27-61) second with five gay men (aged 38-47). Findings include sense of loss and also a gap between themselves in peer, social, and family relationships Results of later study she found similar issues for gay childless men: complex bereavement Common between the two was different ways of negotiating of dominant pro-natalist hetero-normative assumptions.

14 Material on involuntary childless men 3 Hadley (2008) interviewed 10 men ( aged: ) regarding the desire for fatherhood. Findings include sense of a gap; discriminated against in close, familial, social, & work settings. 9 reported episodes of depression with 8 feeling childlessness was an element in that. Also of loss, isolation, addiction, substance abuse and social stress

15 Emerging Research Questions How does childlessness affect older men? What are men s experiential accounts of being childless? How does being childless impact on childless men s relationships with others? How do childless men feel others treat them? What are men s perceptions of childlessness.

16 Thank you for listening. Any questions? Robin Hadley

17 References 1 Agree, E. M., & Glaser, K. (2009). Demography of Informal Caring. In P. Uhlenberg (Ed.), International Handbook of Population Ageing (Vol. 1, pp ). Houten: Springer. Bartlam, B. (2004). Counselling in reproductive medicine: research, ethics and practice. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Keele University, Staffordshire, Keele. Dalzell, A. (2005). I can just imagine someone calling me daddy narratives of men without children. Unpublished MSc dissertation, University of Bristol, Bristol. Dalzell, A. (2007). The expectation has always been that I ll not have kids - the narratives of childless gay men. Unpublished M.Ed dissertation, University of Bristol, Bristol. Dykstra, P. A. (2009). Childless Old Age. In P. Uhlenberg (Ed.), International Handbook of Population Ageing (Vol. 1, pp ). Houten: Springer. Dykstra, P. A., & Hagestad, G. O. (2007). Childlessness and Parenthood in Two Centuries: Different Roads Different Maps? Journal of Family Issues, 28(11), Hadley, R. A. (2008). Involuntarily Childless Men: Issues surrounding the desire for fatherhood. Unpublished MA, The University of Manchester, Manchester. Hadley, R. A. (2009). Navigating in an Uncharted World: How does the desire for fatherhood affect men? Unpublished Msc, The University of Manchester, Manchester. Hagestad, G. O., & Call, V. R. A. (2007). Pathways to Childlessness: A Life Course Perspective. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. (2009). Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Retrieved 24 February, 2010, from

18 References 2 Jamieson, L., Wasoff, F., & Simpson, R. (2009). Solo-Living, Demographic and Family Change: The Need to know more about men. Sociological Research Online, 14(2). Kendig, H., Dykstra, P. A., van Gaalen, R. I., & Melkas, T. (2007). Health of Aging Parents and Childless Individuals. Journal of Family Issues, 28(11), Koropeckyj-Cox, T. (2003). Three Childless Men's Pathways into Old Age. In J. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Ways of Aging (pp ). Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishing. Koropeckyj-Cox, T., & Pendell, G. (2007). Attitudes About Childlessness in the United States: Correlates of Positive, Neutral, and Negative Responses. Journal of Family Issues, 28(8), Monach, J. H. (1993). Childless, no choice: the experience of involuntary childlessness. Abingdon: Routledge. Office for National Statistics. (2009). National population projections, 2008-based. Retrieved 10 February, 2010, from Pickard, L., Wittenberg, R., King, D., Malley, J., & Comas-Herrera, A. (2009). Informal Care for Older People by their Adult Children: Projections of Supply and Demand to 2041 in England. London: The LSE. Throsby, K., & Gill, R. (2004). "It's Different for Men": Masculinity and IVF. Men and Masculinities, 6(4), United Nations. (2003). The World Fertility Report In T. D. o. E. a. S. Affairs (Ed.). New York. Weitoft, G., Burström, B., & Rosén, M. (2004). Premature mortality among lone fathers and childless men. Social Science & Medicine, 59(7),