Abstract
This article draws on data from a study conducted between 2001 and 2005 that investigated university employees’ desires to have children. Forty-seven participants reflected upon key elements of their personal histories, experiences of intimate relationships and what they thought it was possible to achieve in their life worlds. Theories of de-traditionalization and connectedness were considered in the research. Although participants’ intimate relationships were central to their life worlds and there was sometimes anxiety about relationship failure, couples engaged in dynamic processes of accommodation and compromise. Participants who wanted children aspired to committed, fairly traditional relationships in which the practical elements of sharing and caring were emphasized. Functioning family units rather than satisfied individuals were privileged. Participants were deeply embedded in their relational networks – past or present – and these shaped both fertility intentions and outcomes.
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