Conceiving a first child: fathers’ perceptions of contributing elements to their decision

Abstract

Objective: To describe the elements that contribute to men’s decision to have a first child. Background: The factors contributing to women’s and couples’ decisions to conceive a first child are known. Less research has been carried out on men’s experiences with respect to such decisions. Methods: Qualitative research was carried out in 2011. Twelve Canadian first-time fathers were interviewed. Results: The findings show that fathers consider a set of personal, socio-economic, interpersonal and temporal characteristics when making the decision to conceive a child. Conclusions: Better knowledge of the elements influencing men’s decisions to have a child will make it possible to provide them with support during the transition to fatherhood.

Keywords:

• father(s)
• pregnancy
• psychosocial factors
• reproduction
• qualitative methods

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the research assistants from the Fatherhood and Infant Feeding Project, especially Eric D. Vachon, Research Coordinator, for their support with respect to data collection and Laurence deMontigny Gauthier for her support with preparation of this manuscript. We also wish to thank participating fathers for their generosity with their time in a demanding period of transition.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. They declare that this research was funded by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 410-2009-0640.