Where fertility intensions are not discussed, we have paternity denial and dissolved relationships: a case study for the role of men in preventing unintended teenage pregnancy in the Bojanala district, North West province of South Africa

Rebaone Petlele, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Sibusiso Mkwananzi, University of the Witwatersrand
Clifford O. Odimegwu, University of the Witwatersrand

Teenage pregnancy remains a global public health concern. Between 2017 and 2021, 618225 live births were registered to girls below the age of 20 in South Africa. Despite the investment into reducing teenage pregnancy, there has been little success. Studies have shown girls are often in relationships with older men, who control sexual activity. No fertility preferences and intensions are discussed by men with their teenage partners. Our study aimed to investigate the role of men in teenage pregnancy and men who fathered with teenage girls in the district avoided expressing their fertility intensions. Our study used qualitative data informed by interviews conducted with fathers of children born to teenagers. We also used the 2017 National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey and conducted a quantitative analysis of condom use by men in the district. Our study expects to find inconsistent condom use, that men are knowledgeable of their risk to HIV and pregnancy but they prefer not to use condoms. We expect to find men who fathered with teenage girls in Bojanala did not discuss contraceptive use and their fertility intensions with their teenage partners. Furthermore, unplanned fertility is a significant predictor of paternity denial and relationship dissolution.

Keywords: Fertility, Family Planning and Contraception, Children, Adolescents, and Youth

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