Mesbah Maryam, Ghahramani Sulmaz, Amani Reza, Rahmanipour Elham, Ghorbani Mohammad, Sadati Ahmad Kalateh, Sadeghieh Sara, Lankarani Kamran Bagheri
Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 22;20(8):e0330658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0330658. eCollection 2025.
Like many other countries, Iran is facing a declining population growth rate. While previous research has primarily focused on childless individuals or parents of only one child, limited attention has been paid to families who, despite already having two or more children, continue to desire larger families. This study examines childbearing motivations among Iranian parents with two or more planned children.
This explorative qualitative study was conducted in 2023 across three provinces in Iran. A total of 46 participants were purposively selected. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis was used to identify core themes related to childbearing motivations.
Participants' desire to have more children was shaped by six major themes: family altruism, value-attitude motivation, real happiness, resilience development, institutional support, and multifaceted balance. These themes reflect a dynamic interplay of emotional, cultural, and practical considerations in shaping fertility intentions.
The findings indicate that both personal and societal factors contribute to parents' motivation for having more children. Institutional support also emerged as an important influence in the decision to pursue larger families. Understanding these motivations can inform policies aimed at encouraging childbearing among younger generations and help guide the development of integrated strategies and educational initiatives. Future quantitative research is recommended to assess the relative importance of each identified theme.
与许多其他国家一样，伊朗正面临人口增长率下降的问题。虽然此前的研究主要集中在无子女的个人或只有一个孩子的父母身上，但对于那些尽管已经有两个或更多孩子却仍希望拥有更大规模家庭的家庭，关注较少。本研究考察了有两个或更多计划内子女的伊朗父母的生育动机。
这项探索性定性研究于2023年在伊朗的三个省份开展。总共46名参与者通过目的抽样法选取。数据通过半结构化访谈收集，并采用主题分析法来确定与生育动机相关的核心主题。
参与者想要更多孩子的愿望受到六个主要主题的影响：家庭利他主义、价值态度动机、真正的幸福、恢复力发展、制度支持和多方面平衡。这些主题反映了在形成生育意愿过程中情感、文化和实际考量的动态相互作用。
研究结果表明，个人因素和社会因素都对父母生育更多孩子的动机有影响。制度支持在决定生育更多子女的过程中也成为一个重要影响因素。了解这些动机可为旨在鼓励年轻一代生育的政策提供参考，并有助于指导综合策略和教育举措的制定。建议未来开展定量研究以评估每个已确定主题的相对重要性。
