Inconsistencies in Qualitative and Quantitative Reports of Fertility Preferences among Couples in Rural Bangladesh

Jessica D. Gipson, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Michelle J. Hindin, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Fertility preferences are essential to the development of key demographic measures, such as unmet need for contraception and unintended pregnancy. This study compares fertility preferences from a 1998 survey with pregnancy surveillance data (1998-2004) for 20 Bangladeshi couples. Qualitative fieldwork was conducted in 2005 to explore the high level of discrepancies between stated preferences and subsequent fertility. These data reveal a range of circumstances that prompted shifts in fertility preferences, including child sickness or death, sex composition, ineffective contraceptive use, and covert actions by spouses. This study confirms the importance of collecting data from both spouses and emphasizes the need for family planning programs to work in combination with larger-scale development projects aimed at the improvement of women’s status. Due to their highly dynamic nature, future research should consider new ways to assess fertility preferences and improve upon current estimates of unintended pregnancy.