Disability Status and Fertility Patterns Among U.S. Women

• In Event: Disability in Society Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2. Disability, Health, and Healthcare

Abstract

Fertility patterns among women with disabilities remain understudied in demographic research despite disability affecting an estimated 10–12% of reproductive-aged women in the United States. Drawing on intersectionality and reproductive justice frameworks, this study analyzes data from the 2017–2019 National Survey of Family Growth (N = 6,139) to examine whether disability status is associated with recent childbearing, cumulative parity, and age at first birth, and whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. Results from survey-weighted logistic, Poisson, and linear regression models indicate that women with disabilities have approximately 40% lower odds of a recent birth than nondisabled women, an association that attenuates but persists after adjustment for sociodemographic covariates. Disabled women also enter motherhood approximately 1.5–2 years earlier on average, a difference that remains statistically significant net of race, education, income, and family structure. Completed parity, however, does not differ significantly between disabled and nondisabled women once age, socioeconomic resources, and marital status are taken into account. Interaction models reveal limited evidence of systematic subgroup variation, with one notable exception: disabled women with incomes just above the poverty line face particularly constrained recent childbearing. These findings suggest that reproductive stratification by disability operates primarily through the timing and recency of childbearing rather than through total family size, pointing to compressed and precarious reproductive trajectories rather than uniformly reduced fertility. Policy implications include the need for accessible contraceptive and prenatal care, unbiased clinical counseling, and stronger economic supports for disabled women across the reproductive life course.
Keywords: disability, fertility, intersectionality, reproductive justice, National Survey of Family Growth

Author

• Esther Oluwaseun Oshaji, Syracuse University