Stepfamily Fertility: Involvement with Prior Children and Intentions for Another Child

Bryndl Hohmann-Marriott, University of Otago

When parents in new partnerships consider having children together, how do they count their own and their partner’s prior children? Prior children may exert the strongest influence when the parents are more involved with them, such as by being coresident. This study extends this prior research by also considering the level of involvement with nonresident children. It uses a couple-level analysis to examine the effects of both partners’ prior children on the fertility intentions of both partners in a new coresident relationship. Preliminary results indicate that both men and women are less likely to intend another child if they are more highly involved with their own as well as with their partner’s prior children.