Content and Objectives

The use of reproductive medicine for the fulfilment of fertility needs is expected to become increasingly important in the future, partly because births are postponed to an ever older age, but the chances of a successful pregnancy decrease for biological reasons with the ages of the woman and the man. The number of fertility treatments has been increasing for years. However, fertility problems and the development of reproductive medicine as a potential solution are still little studied topics in demographic research on births. They are directly related to the much-researched "fertility gap", i.e. the discrepancy between the desired number of children and the actual number of children of women and men in their mid-forties. The project looks at the experience of infertility and the use of medical assistance for fulfilment of a desire to have children as building blocks of reproductive biographies. In contrast to reproductive events such as a birth, they are characterised by low visibility. The complex of topics can, however, make an important contribution to understanding total fertility and the fertility gap.

One key question is the impact of infertility and the use of fertility treatments on personal well-being and the relationship situation. Because both the occurence of fertility problems as well as fertility treatments are incisive events with effects on the quality of life and relationships. As far as the data situation allows, the perspective of both partners in a relationship is taken into account. The research contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of reproductive biographies. In addition, reproductive policies - in the sense of legal conditions – and their effects on the utilisation of fertility treatments in Germany and in a European comparison are being analysed. This also involves the identification of social inequalities in the possibility of having children with medical support. Such analyses make a contribution to the social debate on new rules for reproductive medicine.Previous research on infertility and reproductive medicine has mainly focussed on members of the majority societies in the global North. Only marginal attention was paid to migrant and ethnic minorities, most of whom have a relatively high fertility rate. At the same time, the number of children and the social status of "parenthood" are of great importance in most minorities to. Childlessness is often socially stigmatised there and the treatment of infertility is considered particularly important. The project, in collaboration with project 1.2.1 "Fertility in the Context of Migration and Integration" also addresses this research gap by performing quantitative empirical studies in various geographical contexts to specifically investigate minorities, for example subjectively perceived infertility and participation in medically assisted reproductive methods. Overall, the project considers the perspective of both genders or the couple's perspective, insofar as the data situation allows.