Married couples and general public perceptions of childlessness in Kpando Gabi municipality, in the Volta region, Ghana

Abstract

Childlessness is a public health problem that is characterized by serious social and psychological consequences. It is considered as a major life crisis that has the potential to threaten the stability of individuals and relationships, especially infertility among married couples. Apart from the magnitude of the problem, management of infertility has focused more on women with little attention paid to men. The study was therefore designed to explore married couples and general public perceptions of childlessness in Kpando Gabi Municipality, in the Volta region, Ghana. The quantitative and qualitative instruments used for data collection are Questionnaire and In-depth Interview guide respectively. The sampling techniques used for this study was a simple random sampling technique. Four hundred (400) questionnaires were shared randomly among the selected respondents. Three hundred and sixty-one (361) questionnaires was retrieved. The data collected was processed using SPSS software while chi- square formulae was used in testing the research hypotheses. From the analysis of the data, it was found that, some of the socio-cultural effect of childlessness include: stigmatization, depression, anxiety, abuse, labeling, denial of cultural right, disrespectful attitude from spouse, and polygamy. Furthermore, half of the respondents 57.0% perceived that there is a relationship between spirituality and childlessness, one-third of them 34.5% disagreed to that opinion and 8.5% were not sure. Also, the finding revealed that escape/avoidance, seeking social support, positive reappraisal and self-controlling were the coping strategies adopted by the childless couples. In conclusion, Infertility is a health problem that requires appropriate treatment strategy. However, this study recommended that Government should give adequate attention in developing short term plans and programs that create affordable and accessible medical treatments and counselling centers for infertility in the municipality.