Infertile Couples in the Family Context: Variation Across Setting

Abstract

The present research is an attempt to study the perception of family members in three different ecological settings of Jammu (J&K) about childlessness. The sample of the study consisted of 100 family members each from three ecological settings; total 150 family members formed the core group for the study. Snow ball sampling technique was used for sample selection. The tool used for the study was interview guide and informal observation. View point of the family members about childlessness was studied and it was found that family members in all the three settings considered children important for socio-emotional reasons i.e. continuation of lineage, getting social recognition to parents and family and religious reasons such as insurance of salvation. Children were also considered important for marital stability and future security. For causes of childlessness females were somehow held responsible even in those cases where males were clearly diagnosed infertile. Majority of respondents in rural and tribal setting had negative attitude towards childlessness. Some of the respondents reported having positive attitude towards childless couples.

Keywords: Childlessness, Infertility, Perception, Ecology, Urban, Rural, Tribal