The Relationship Between Involuntary Childlessness and Marital Stability: a Case Study of Waiting Wombs Trust-Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between involuntary childlessness and marital stability based on a case study of Waiting Wombs Trust-Kenya. The Target audience in this case was couples in opposite sex marriages that are monogamous. The population included individuals and couples who are experiencing both primary and secondary childlessness. The study’s objectives were to determine whether childlessness is a factor in marital distress and identify the relationship between childlessness and marital stability. Marital stability was defined in terms of marital cohesion, satisfaction and consensus. The study was guided by a correlational research design with a total of 40 respondent’s selected using simple random sampling technique. Data was collected and recorded using a customized questionnaire whereby 99% of the questions were adopted from a 14-item self-reporting Revised Dyadic adjustment scale marital stability questionnaire and one question added to identify couples with and without children. The null hypothesis was measured using the one-way MANOVA in SPSS by looking at the output. The three outputs of interest were Post Hoc’s test to determine where the between effect difference occurs in the two groups, multivariate tests to determine if significant difference exists in at least one construct of the dependent variable with levene’s lambda reported, and test of between subjects for testing significance between groups. From the findings on childlessness and marital stability, 80% of the respondent with no child had marital distress, compared to 20% who have children. In relation to childlessness with marital cohesion, consensus, and satisfaction, results suggest that there was a notable statistical difference in marital stability based on the relationship status of a person, F (3, 36) = 28.60, p < .0005; Wilk's Λ = 0.296, partial η2 = .70. Looking at the factors individually, there are differences in marital satisfaction, consensus, and cohesion in relation to childlessness with; firstly consensus F (1, 38) = 36.05, p < .001; partial η2 = .487. Secondly, for Satisfaction F (1, 38) = 42.12, p < .001; partial η2 = .526. Thirdly, for cohesion F (1, 38) = 34.34, p < .001; partial η2 = .475. This research recommends the need of creating aggressive and expanded community awareness on childlessness as a mental health issue in Kenya.