CONTEXT: Although a substantial literature suggests that orphans suffer disadvantage relative to nonorphaned
peers, the nature of this disadvantage and the mechanisms driving it are poorly understood. Some evidence suggests
that orphans experience elevated fertility, perhaps because structural disadvantage leads them to engage in
sexual risk-taking. An alternative explanation is that orphans intentionally become pregnant to achieve a sense of
normality, acceptance and love.
METHODS: Data from the 2006 wave of the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health on 1,033 young
adults aged 15–25 were used to examine the relationship of maternal and paternal orphanhood with sexual risk
indicators and desired and actual fertility. Regression analyses were used to adjust for covariates, including social
and demographic characteristics and elapsed time since parental death.
RESULTS: Twenty-six percent of respondents had lost their father and 15% their mother. Orphanhood was not associated
with sexual risk-taking. However, respondents whose mother had died in the past five years desired more
children than did those whose mother was still alive (risk differences, 0.52 among women and 0.97 among men).
Actual fertility was elevated among women whose father had died more than five years earlier (0.31) and among
men whose mother had died in the past five years (1.06) or more than five years earlier (0.47).
CONCLUSION: The elevations in desired and actual fertility among orphans are consistent with the hypothesis that
orphans intentionally become pregnant. Strategies that address personal desires for parenthood may need to be
part of prevention programs aimed at orphaned youth