Seeking Help for Pregnancy and Seeking Adoption

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 19. Sex, Sexuality, and Choices about Having Children

Abstract

Prior research based on the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) from 2011 through 2015 showed that females above age 35 with fertility problems were more likely to seek adoption compared to those who did not. Conversely, other studies found that women with a similar medical history pursued reproductive assistance before adoption. Therefore, this study seeks to explain whether and how seeking help to become or to stay pregnant affects the likelihood that women will be currently seeking to adopt. Thus, logistic regression was used to analyze the most current version of the NSFG data set (2013 through 2015). Likewise, results from this study showed that women who sought help to become or to stay pregnant are less likely to be currently seeking adoption compared to those who did not. According to the logistic regression model used in this study, married women with partners wanting future biological children were less likely to adopt than those who did not. Future research is necessary in order to understand the larger umbrella of seeking pregnancy help as well as how factors associated with fertility problems may or may not be related to women’s current adoption seeking behavior.

Author

• Amy Clark, Texas Woman's University