Postponement of Childbearing and Fertility Intentions

: Focus on Fertility Treatment

Abstract

To examine the impact of postponement of childbearing on the desire to have a second child, we investigated the relationship between fertility treatment and the desire to have a second child. Since the critical challenge in estimating the analysis of health production studies is accounting for endogeneity of health inputs, we used an empirical model for the endogeneity of health inputs to estimate the effects of fertility treatment experience on the desire to have a second child.

First, the results confirmed the negative impact of age on the desire to have a second child. The findings show that not only the age of the wife but also the age of the husband is important in family formation to have a second child. Second, we confirmed the negative impact of fertility treatment experience on the desire to have a child. Those who have experienced fertility treatment have a strong sense of medical cost burden, and also those who have experienced fertility treatment are in a situation where they are not working. Although it depended on the age of the wife, in general, the experience of fertility treatment has a negative impact on the desire to have a second child.