At risk of reproductive disadvantage? Exploring fertility awareness among migrant women in Germany

Abstract

This study examined awareness about fertility among immigrant women and non-migrants in Germany. The social relevance of infertility and fertility treatment is increasing in Western countries due to continually low overall birth rates, a high rate of childlessness, and a gap between the desired and actual numbers of children. While there is growing interest in infertility and reproductive medicine in general, previous studies have rarely included immigrant or ethnic minorities in Europe. This study investigated whether knowledge on the age-related fertility decline (ARFD) varies between migrant groups and the majority group, and the role of education. Working hypotheses were drawn from theoretical considerations on frameworks of migrant assimilation. The analysis was based on data collected in a social science pilot study on reproductive medicine, representative of the general population ('NeWiRe' 2014-2015). The sample included 962 women aged 18-50 years living in Germany. Approximately 81% of the sample were immigrants who originated from Turkey, Poland, the Balkan countries or countries of the (post-Soviet) Commonwealth of Independent States. While rather poor overall, knowledge on ARFD was found to be significantly lower in the migrant groups compared with the majority group. This minority-group disadvantage cannot be explained by sociodemographic or cultural variables. Future research should include minority groups in empirical studies on awareness about fertility in order to better understand the causes of this disadvantage, and the potential reproductive needs of migrants.

Keywords: Age-related fertility decline; Europe; Fertility knowledge; Migrant assimilation; Minority groups; Non-patient sample.

Fig. 1

Knowledge of age-related fertility decline by origin group (%). Respondents were asked: ‘At what age do you think female fertility starts to gradually decline?’ Source: NeWiRe survey 2014–2015 (n = 962).