Attitudes toward Motherhood, Fertility Desires and Birth Intentions by Disability Status among U.S. Women, 2006-2010

Carrie L. Shandra, Stony Brook University, State University of New York (SUNY)
Dennis Hogan, Brown University

Disability shapes participation in social roles. Surprisingly, although approximately 10% of women of reproductive age report disabilities, little demographic research has explored the relationship between disability status and attitudes toward motherhood and childbearing. This paper focuses on the importance of motherhood as a feature of the life course, and as essential to women’s own biographies. In doing so, this paper will present the first summary of fertility attitudes and intentions by disability status for a nationally representative sample of U.S. women.