Birth intentions among US fathers with disabilities

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Disability Studies
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Men's birth intention is a key indicator of sexual health and impacts child development.
• Birth intendedness among fathers with disabilities remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine disparities in birth intendedness between fathers with and without disabilities.
• To explore how marital status and race/ethnicity modify these disparities.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the 2011-2017 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG).
• Analyzed pregnancy intendedness for fathers with (n=380) and without disabilities (n=1,324) regarding their last birth.
• Employed multinomial regression models and tested interaction effects.

Main Results:

• Fathers with disabilities were 1.89 times more likely to report unintended births compared to fathers without disabilities.
• Marriage was associated with lower unintended birth rates for fathers without disabilities, but this effect was not observed for fathers with disabilities.

Conclusions:

• Disabled fathers face a higher risk of unintended births.
• There is a critical need to improve access to family planning services for men with disabilities.
• Further research is required to understand risk factors and their impact on well-being.