Table of contents:
- Does living with the mother-in-law affect the daughter-in-law's fertility?
- Then how did it go?
- How come?
- Relax, living with your mother-in-law does not necessarily affect your wife's fertility
Do you currently live with your mother-in-law? A recent study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science apparently shows that living with your husband's mother (in-laws) can have an impact on the number of children a married couple (couples) have. How can the two have an effect on each other? Find out the answer below.
Does living with the mother-in-law affect the daughter-in-law's fertility?
In fact, there has only been one study conducted by Susanne Huber, Patricia Zahourek, and Martin Fieder from the Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna in Austria.
Researchers studied what the impact would be if a wife lived in the same house with her own mother or with her partner's mother. To clarify the effect that the presence of mothers and mothers-in-law has on the number of children a married couple has, Fieder and her colleagues monitored the medical records of more than 2.5 million women of childbearing age from 14 countries around the world. This data is compiled from the IPUMS-International census.
In their analysis, the researchers considered various variables. Including the number of children who have been born by the wife, the wife's age, the estimated reproductive period of the wife, and whether their birth mother or mother-in-law interfered in the household life of the couples studied
Then how did it go?
The researchers found that in the majority of cases, couples did not choose to live with either their birth mother or mother-in-law.
With the exception of women in Iran, the majority of married women live only with their partners without bringing other family members. Apart from that, in 13 other countries including Pakistan, Zambia, Romania, Brazil and the United States (US), there are still quite a number of women living with their mother-in-law.
In these countries, the study found that women who live with their birth mother or mother-in-law have fewer children than women who live alone with their husbands. In addition, scientists have found that in most countries, fewer girls are born to wives living with their own mothers than to their mother-in-law. That is, the wife who lives with her mother gives birth to more sons. Meanwhile, the wife who lives with the mother of her husband gives birth to more daughters.
How come?
Although this study found only a trend and could not explain with certainty the cause-and-effect relationship, Fieder and colleagues found several possibilities that could explain the reasons why living with the mother-in-law or mother alone affects the number of children in the family.
In some families, the presence of in-laws can be a financial burden in itself. Although in-laws can be of great help to couples in parenting their children, it cannot be denied that couples also need to provide for their parents' needs. Because of that, the burden on couples is double, namely taking care of their children and their parents. As a result, couples may choose not to have many children. This is the reason most researchers believe.
Relax, living with your mother-in-law does not necessarily affect your wife's fertility
Don't worry if you and your partner plan to have many children, but currently live with your in-laws. The reason is, there is only one study that highlights this phenomenon. The study also has not found a definite reason why a wife who lives with her mother or her husband's mother has fewer children.
In addition, the strongest suspicions of researchers are more towards socio-economic reasons, not biological causes. So, you don't need to worry about being infertile or having trouble getting pregnant if you have to live with your mother or mother-in-law.
