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Semi-structured interviews with 11 men (28–34 years) were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, based on the Men and Parenting Pathways cohort. Findings center on a superordinate theme, Fatherhood: The door is still ajar, marked by reluctance to commit to childlessness. Key subthemes include realization, talk, rationale, and pressure, showing decision-making as fluid and shaped by intrinsic and extrinsic influences despite social change. The work highlights normative timing awareness and calls for policy and practice to support identity construction, life-course navigation, incongruent decisions, and relationships.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/when-men-choose-to-be-childless-an-interpretative-phenomenological-analysis-abstract/142956/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/when-men-choose-to-be-childless-an-interpretative-phenomenological-analysis-abstract/142956.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Jiven","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-30","2026-08-25",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What does the study investigate about voluntarily childless men?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It examines their experiences, subjective reasoning, and decision-making processes regarding being voluntarily childless near the median age for first-time fatherhood.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How were the data collected and analyzed?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"The study used semi-structured interviews with 11 Australian-resident men and applied interpretative phenomenological analysis to the collected narratives.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What key themes emerged in the analysis?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"A superordinate theme, Fatherhood: The door is still ajar, was identified alongside subordinate themes including realization, The Talk (or lack of), the rationale, and perceived pressure.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},142956,1787691904,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":31},1099513958607,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002390cf8733938c?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778829742770036399","|  | J S P R |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\nWhen men choose to be childless: An interpretative phenomenological analysis  \nJournal of Social and Personal Relationships 2020, Vol. 37(1) 325–344 ª The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines:  \n[sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/0265407519864444](DOI: 10.1177/0265407519864444)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/0265407519864444)[journals.sagepub.com/home/spr](journals.sagepub.com/home/spr)  \nImogene Smith 1, Tess Knight 1,2, Richard Fletcher3, and Jacqui A. Macdonald 1,4,5  \nAbstract  \nA growing number of individuals expressly choose to remain childless, yet research exploring these intentions in men remains scarce. This study examines the experiences, subjective reasoning, and decision-making processes of voluntarily childless Australian men near the median age for first-time fatherhood. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 Australian-resident men (28–34 years; M ¼ 31; SD ¼ 1.48). Participants were selected from the Men and Parenting Pathways longitudinal cohort study (N ¼ 609) based on having stated they did not want to have children “at all.” Data were collected and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Analysis identified a superordinate theme; Fatherhood: The door is still ajar, which was marked by the men’s reluctance to unequivocally commit to a childless future. Subordinate themes were The Realization, The Talk (or lack of... ), The Rationale, and The Pressure. Atthe normative age for transitioningto parenthood, role choices are salient. Overall, men’s decision-making process to not have children appears to be fluid and influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Despite changing social trends and acceptance of divergent life trajectories, these men are acutely aware that their intentions place them outsidethe norm. In policy and practice, it is importantto recognizethe changing norms around fatherhood timing and support voluntarily childless men and couples in constructing their identities, life course, incongruent decisions, and relationships.  \n1 Deakin University, Australia  \n2 Cairnmillar Institute, Australia  \n3 University of Newcastle, Australia  \n4 Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia  \n5 University of Melbourne, Australia  \nCorresponding author:  \nJacqui A. Macdonald, Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, School of Psychology, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria, 3125, Australia.  \nEmail: [jacqui.macdonald@deakin.edu.au](jacqui.macdonald@deakin.edu.au)  \nKeywords  \nChildbearing intentions, childless by choice, fertility intentions, men, voluntarily childless  \nIn most Western cultures, pronatalist norms are constructed to encourage procreation (Jackson & Casey, 2009), yet despite societal expectations, the trend toward childlessness in many developed countries is increasing, in part due to choice (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2016; The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] family database, 2015; United Nations, 2015) . Voluntary childlessness (VC) is not a new phenomenon and there exists a sizable body of literature on women who choose to remain childless (e.g., Ashburn-Nardo, 2017; Gotlib, 2016; Letherby, 2002) . However, in some countries, rates of childlessness are higher among men (Gray, 2002) . An estimated 5–9% of men do not intend to have children (Roberts, Metcalf, Jack, & Tough, 2011; Thompson & Lee, 2011; Warren, 2008), yet research exploring these intentions remains scarce (Shapiro, 2014) .  \nWhen parenthood is framed as normative, the preference to not have a child is often treated as aberrant and associated stigma potentially results in psychological or social stress (Doyle, Pooley, & Breen, 2012) . Ashburn-Nardo (2017) found that the moral responsibility of having children fell to both men and women, where choosing not to have children elicited moral outrage from others. This ","cbCaiclIwYUh0HVd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiclIwYUh0HVd","pdf",293191,"English","# Abstract\n## Study focus and scarcity of research\n## Methods and participant selection\n## Analysis framework and themes\n## Implications for policy and practice","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about voluntarily childless men?\",\"answer\":\"It examines their experiences, subjective reasoning, and decision-making processes regarding being voluntarily childless near the median age for first-time fatherhood.\"},{\"question\":\"How were the data collected and analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"The study used semi-structured interviews with 11 Australian-resident men and applied interpretative phenomenological analysis to the collected narratives.\"},{\"question\":\"What key themes emerged in the analysis?\",\"answer\":\"A superordinate theme, Fatherhood: The door is still ajar, was identified alongside subordinate themes including realization, The Talk (or lack of), the rationale, and perceived pressure.\"}]","When Men Choose to Be Childless - An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis - Abstract | PDF"]