Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.12765/CPoS-2022-02
Exports for your reference manager
"Courage in Ignorance": Mothers' Retrospective Accounts of Early Childbearing in Turkey
[journal article]
Abstract Although extensive research investigates the consequences of teenage motherhood, there is still very limited research exploring young mothers' experiences in their own voices. This gap is particularly evident for those non-Western developing countries in which women's voices are largely muted. This ... view more
Although extensive research investigates the consequences of teenage motherhood, there is still very limited research exploring young mothers' experiences in their own voices. This gap is particularly evident for those non-Western developing countries in which women's voices are largely muted. This paper explores women's perceptions and evaluations of their early motherhood, drawing on their lived experiences and retrospective accounts. This study also investigates how early first birth influences these mother's subsequent fertility. The study adopts a qualitative method based on interviews with a total of 17 women in several cities in Turkey who had their first birth at a young age (ages 17-22). A qualitative approach is most suitable for this research area, which aims to explore young mothers' interpretations of their fertility timing and the consequences of this event for their lives in general, including subjective evaluations and subtle meanings. A key finding of this study is that the interviewees describe early childbearing as a negative event in their life course, convey regret for having had an early first birth, and report a feeling of dissatisfaction with being a young mother. A second finding concerns the influence of early first birth on subsequent childbearing. The women's accounts indicate that subsequent fertility operated as a compensation for the missed feelings of motherhood and served as an opportunity to heal from hurtful experiences. This study points to the importance of social context in determining the consequences of early fertility.... view less
Keywords
motherhood; adolescent; reproductive behavior; fertility; life career; satisfaction with life; Turkey
Classification
Population Studies, Sociology of Population
Family Sociology, Sociology of Sexual Behavior
Free Keywords
Young motherhood; Turkey; Qualitative interviews; Retrospective accounts
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 29-56
Journal
Comparative Population Studies - Zeitschrift für Bevölkerungswissenschaft, 47 (2022)
ISSN
1869-8999
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed