Pregnancy rates among U.S. women and their partners in 1994

When rates of pregnancy, birth and abortion are calculated only for the women involved, men's role in reproduction is ignored, resulting in limited understanding of their influence on these outcomes.

Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth and from the 1994-1995 Alan Guttmacher Institute Abortion Patient Survey were combined with national natality statistics to estimate pregnancy rates in 1994 for women and their male partners, by age and marital status at the time of conception.

Nine percent of both men and women aged 15-44 were involved in conceiving a pregnancy in 1994 (excluding those resulting in miscarriages). Pregnancy levels were highest among women aged 20-24 and among male partners aged 25-29. Men younger than 20 were involved in about half as many pregnancies as were women this age (9% compared with 18%). In contrast, men aged 35 and older were involved in roughly twice as many pregnancies as were similarly aged women (19% compared with 9%). Three out of every four pregnancies in 1994 resulted in a birth. However, 47% of pregnancies involving men younger than 18 ended in abortion, compared with about 34% of those involving men aged 40 and older. In comparison, 31% of pregnancies among women younger than 18 resulted in abortion, while 39% of those among women aged 40 and older were terminated.

The overall rate at which men were involved in causing a pregnancy is similar to the pregnancy rate among women. Men are typically older than women when they are involved in a pregnancy, however. This implies that men may bring more experience and resources to the pregnancy experience.