The importance of the ‘family clock’: women’s lived experience of fertility decision-making 6 years after attending the Fertility Assessment and Counselling clinic

Koert, Emily, Sylvest, Randi, Vittrup, Ida, Hvidman, Helene Westring, Petersen, Kathrine Birch, Boivin, Jacky ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9498-1708, Andersen, Anders Nyboe and Schmidt, Lone 2022. The importance of the ‘family clock’: women’s lived experience of fertility decision-making 6 years after attending the Fertility Assessment and Counselling clinic. Human Fertility 25 (5) , pp. 954-966. 10.1080/14647273.2021.1950851

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Abstract

This study explored women’s lived experience of making fertility decisions six years after attending the Fertility Assessment and Counselling (FAC) clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is a personalised fertility awareness intervention. We conducted a qualitative interview study with 24 women who attended the FAC clinic 6 years earlier. Interviews were semi-structured and broadly examined the women’s perceptions and experience of the intervention during follow-up. Data was analysed using a phenomenological framework and themes were identified related to women’s experience of making fertility decisions after attending the FAC clinic. The overarching theme regarding the women’s lived experience of making fertility decisions after attending the FAC clinic was: Fertility decisions were guided by the ‘family clock’. There were four themes: (i) Deciding to ‘get started’ by attending the FAC clinic; (ii) Sense of making informed and empowered decisions; (iii) Influence of partner status on fertility decisions; and (iv) Decisions dictated by circumstance over preference and knowledge. At follow-up, the majority (21 women, 88%) had become parents. More than half of the women said that they had not achieved their desired family size. Consideration of women’s ‘family clock’ is necessary in personalised fertility awareness interventions to enable women to achieve their family goals.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
ISSN:	1464-7273
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 April 2021
Date of Acceptance:	21 April 2021
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2023 07:09
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/140883

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