Social Context and Reproductive Decision-Making: Childbearing Attitudes Among Never-Married Black Women

Background and Purpose: Within the US, the rates of childbearing among women of childbearing ages have steadily declined. Demographic trends show increasing rates of delayed marriage and nonmarital childbearing across the U.S. with rates being worse for Black women. Yet, limited research exists that has explored Black women’s attitudes towards childbearing, particularly among never married Black women. Research on Black women has emerged from a long history of both misrepresentation and underrepresentation in family and reproductive studies, framing childbearing through deficit-based narratives, while overlooking the structural realities that shape reproductive decisions.

This paper strives to fill the gaps by exploring the agency, values, and intentionality behind reproductive choices among never married Black women. It seeks to explore how reproductive decision-making is shaped by overlapping identities (race, gender, class) and the integration of access, opportunity, and social context within choices about childbearing. Furthermore, participants provide insights that challenge deficit-based narratives, highlight social, cultural, and structural influences, and advance equity and reproductive autonomy for Black women.

Methods: Twenty-three in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted never married Black women (ages 18 to 50) who were never married. The sample is mainly single (87%), educated (78% college degree or higher), spiritual (95%). Participants were recruited through social media and snowball sampling. All interviews were conducted in-person and transcribed verbatim, using NVivo qualitative software, guided by a phenomenological approach and thematic analysis.

Findings: Data analysis reveals that never married Black women were often influenced by their religious practices that occasionally conflicted with their sexual practices and beliefs. Some participants described how their attitudes towards childbearing, especially if they became pregnant, were conflicted because they felt guilty and shameful. The data suggests the role of internal conflict shaped by social and cultural expectations. Their attitudes were shaped by moral frameworks and community norms.

Some participants report that their families and faith-based communities were disappointed and ostracized women who were pregnant out-of-wedlock. The data suggests that childbearing attitudes were shaped through family norms, religious, and community expectations. Several participants reported that as a Black woman they wanted to be married to an educated, high earning partner before having children to avoid being a “Black Baby Mama”. Findings indicate that childbearing attitudes are being influenced by factors, such as social indicators, economic stability, education, and relationship status.

Women with strong racial, gender, and sexual identity were favorable to childbearing, when the time, condition, and romantic partnership was right. All participants expressed the desire to have children within marriage to combat stereotypes.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings highlight the importance of understanding Black motherhood – whether as a priority, a possibility, or something to delay - through their lived experiences, instead of relying on stereotypes or assumptions. By centering Black women, social workers can correct biased and incomplete narratives and produce more nuanced, context-aware knowledge that informs research, practice, and policy. This would produce more inclusive and accurate understanding of family diversity and fertility patterns, while increasing women’s resources, support, and autonomy to make informed reproductive choices.