Fatherhood - Is It My Decision? 30-Year-Old Childless Men Talk about Their Desire for Children in Eastern Germany's Extremely Low Fertility Conditions

Holger R. von der Lippe, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Urs Fuhrer, University of Magdeburg
Bernhard Meyer-Probst, University of Rostock

Recent demands for including psychological theories on decision-making in research on family formation coincide with calls for improving research on male fertility and fatherhood. In this paper, we address these notions and present findings from in-depth interviews with 30-year-old childless men in eastern Germany on conceptions and subjective determinants of fertility decisions. The subjects of our study are participants in an extensive longitudinal survey, and we use both qualitative and quantitative data in our analysis in order to link the results of the interviews to the life course development of the participants. Our results indicate wide differences among men in their narratives. For those who attach great significance to family formation, the theory of symbolic self-completion seems to capture best the motives behind fertility behavior. For others, however, attitudes toward a partner's desire for children prove to be the qualifying factor in their fertility decision.